


Reawakening

by Alice_h



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotions, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mental Health Issues, Post S3, Recovery, adora goes to therapy, catra gets therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-07-31 05:14:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20109718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_h/pseuds/Alice_h
Summary: What if Catra didn't pull the lever in S3E4?Reawakening is an alternative ending to Season 3, and an imagining of how things would pan out afterwards as Catra and Adora try to recover from everything that has happened.





	1. Just One Push

**Author's Note:**

> I have tried to stick close to the show for this series, but it does get somewhat darker in places. I have a good plan for where this will go, so keep on reading!

“Catra! Please don’t!”

Catra turned to look at Adora. In just a few moments, she would finally have won. She could show Hordak how much she was worth – no, she could show _everyone _how much she was worth. She reached out and took hold of the lever. Just one push away from proving them all wrong.

Just one push. She told herself to push, but her arm didn’t move. This… this wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to open the portal and be Hordak’s valued second-in-command. Entrapta would have outlived her usefulness, and she would have no competition, ruling alongside Hordak as the Horde armies took Etheria for them.

“Come on!” she screamed, willing her trembling arm to go forward.

Adora noticed her hesitation, “You don’t have to do this, Catra!”

“Yes I do!” she yelled, but she still found herself unable to do so. Tears came to her eyes and her breathing became shallow. Why couldn’t she just do this? She let go of the lever and fell to her knees. In the corner of her vision, she saw Glimmer and Shadow Weaver appear from a shadow, the sorceress untying Adora and Glimmer making her way over to remove the sword.

Free from her bounds, Adora ran straight over to Catra and placed an arm around her shoulder. She shook it off, turning away.

“Catra…”

“Get away!” she shouted. She had failed. The time had come to show everyone what she was worth, and she failed. They were all right, she was worth nothing.

“Come back with us,” Adora persisted. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her here again.

Shadow Weaver stepped towards them, “Adora, we have to go, come on!”

“Please?” whispered the blonde girl, desperation clear in her voice.

Catra roared and swiped her claws at Adora’s face, “No! I’m not going with you! Go back to your happy little Princess family. I don’t ever want to see you again!”

Adora reached out her arm, but Shadow Weaver grabbed hold of it and pulled her back towards her and Glimmer. The three of them became enveloped in shadows and vanished. Catra got back to her feet and began to climb over the fallen ducts in the centre of the room.

“Catra!” a voice made her stumble. It was Hordak and he sounded angry, “What did you do?!”

She continued heading towards the door, “Go find someone else to shout at. I don’t care any more.”

“Catra! Catra!”

She kept walking until Hordak’s yells were no longer audible, ignoring the few soldiers who tried to talk to her on her way. The corridors of the Fright Zone were labyrinthine, but she knew exactly where she was going. Out. Away from everything. Away from Hordak, away from Shadow Weaver, and far, far away from Adora. All they did was show her exactly how useless she really was. But now? Now they could just forget about her and be happy.

The Fright Zone left behind, Catra continued forward. There was nothing there for her anymore – there was nothing _anywhere _for her anymore. She still kept going, her determination guiding her. A carousel of thoughts danced through her mind – memories, recent and distant; things people had said to her and things she wished she’d said; and what she was going to do now. Her resolve strengthened: This all happened because Hordak sent her to the Crimson Waste to die, but she came back. Not this time. If he wants her to die there, then that’s exactly what she was going to do.

The journey there was not like last time. When she went there with Scorpia, they had supplies and a map. But now Catra had nothing. No-one. As she walked, tiredness and thirst set in, however she ignored them and continued walking into the desert. She was light-headed and her legs could barely support her, but the place she was heading to slowly honed into view. A valley that once contained a huge river ran through the waste hundreds of feet below. Fatigue and emotion combined, and she laughed to herself. One final moment to let the world know exactly what it had done to her.

“This is what you want, huh?” she shouted to the sky, her voice hoarse through lack of water “All the things you did to me… You win! I give up. You made me lose _everything_!”

There were only a few yards left to go, and she could barely walk. Every step took effort that she no longer had; every inch forward was an ordeal. Her legs buckled underneath her, and she fell to the floor, a couple of feet from the cliff edge. But that was it – she had no more. Her body didn’t have the strength to crawl, let alone stand.

“Just like everything I do,” she croaked, “A failure in life, a failure in death. They were right.”

Catra closed her eyes to become yet another forgotten pile of bones littering the Crimson Waste. As her consciousness faded, she thought about Adora. How did everything go so wrong?

* * *

The moment she was back in Bright Moon, Adora went straight to her bedroom without saying a word. She kept replaying Catra’s words over and over in her head. _I don’t ever want to see you again. _All she wanted was for Catra to be safe and happy, and she’d screwed it up again and left her to be punished by the Horde. There must have been something she could have done or said to get Catra to come back with them. Should she have forced her? Maybe it’s because she didn’t explain the consequences of staying? Whatever it was, she had failed Catra.

“Aaarrggghh!” she screamed, punching the wall.

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver’s voice made her jump. She looked back to find the sorceress stood behind her.

“Shadow Weaver? What are you doing here?”

“Something’s bothering you,” she squinted at Adora, trying to get a measure of what was in her mind, “Catra.”

The girl nodded, “I can’t stop thinking about how I left her there. They’re going to be so angry. She… she won’t survive alone.”

The sorceress cupped her hand on Adora’s cheek, “I don’t know why you’re worried about that… failure. All she does is drag you down, Adora. I know you’re fond of her, that’s why she made it as far as she did. But she betrayed us. It is far better that you forget about her.”

Adora looked at the floor, “But I can’t. She’s my friend.”

“_Friends_ don’t betray each other,” Shadow Weaver spat the first word out, her anger was evident, “You know that, Adora.”

“I should have stopped it ever getting to that point, I…”

“I think you should get some sleep, Adora. It’s been a long day, and you’ll feel better in the morning.”

Shadow Weaver backed away and left her alone again. Adora lay awake in her bed, her worries unable to let her sleep. They had managed to stop the Horde opening a portal and bringing death and destruction to Etheria, why couldn’t she be happy about that? She thought more about the look in Catra’s eyes as she was about to throw the lever – it was something she’d never seen before in the girl. But why did she stop? Was there something in her that didn’t want to hurt Adora? Why didn’t she notice?

The questions kept firing through her brain as she stared at the ceiling. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra wakes up in an unfamiliar place with a strange woman, whilst Adora struggles with her feelings about leaving Catra

“I’m sorry I left,” Adora nudged Catra’s shoulder as they leant on the guard rail, looking out over the Fright Zone. This was their little spot – where they shared frustrations, joy and sorrow. A little oasis from the intensity of their training. “I never wanted to leave you, you mean so much to me.”

“Don’t go getting all soppy on me,” Catra playfully swatted her away, “Oh no…it can’t be…”

“What?”

“You like me!”

Adora burst into laughter, “I do _not!_”

“Admit it!” Catra grabbed her in a headlock, “I’m not letting you go until you do.”

“Never!”

The catgirl tightened her grip a little, “Admit it!”

“No!” giggled Adora. She grabbed hold of Catra’s waist and picked her up, slipping out of the headlock as she did so.

“Hey!” protested Catra. She was being carried towards the edge of the building, “Adora, no! Not that close!”

The blonde girl remained silent as she reached the edge, then let her fall.

“Adora! No!” Catra fell, face first towards the ground. She felt the wind rush around her as she tumbled towards the darkness below. Further and further down she went, closing her eyes and screaming in terror, waiting for the impact. But it never came.

‘What?’ she thought to herself, eyes still shut tight, ‘This doesn’t make sense, I need to see where I’m going. I’ll look in 3…2…1…’

A bright light entered her consciousness, blinding her. She was no longer falling, but on her back, stationary, “Huh?”

“Ah, you’re awake,” a woman’s voice came from somewhere around her. Catra’s eyes began to adjust, and she could make out that she was laid on a bed in a small blue room.

“There’s water next to the bed, you must be thirsty,” the woman spoke again. Now she was less disoriented, she could trace where it was coming from. Looking to her right, she saw an odd wolf-like woman smiling down at her.

“Who…?” Catra tried to speak, but her voice was a mere breath.

The woman picked up a glass of water and held it towards her. Catra tried to take hold of it, but her hands wouldn’t move.

“It’s okay, you must still be weak from your ordeal,” she brought the glass to Catra’s mouth and tipped it slightly. The catgirl drank awkwardly, with several drops running down her face, that the woman wiped with a tissue.

The water had given Catra just enough hydration to be able to speak, “Who… are you?”

“My name is Catarrah Sicmet,” the woman pushed a lock of curly brown hair away from her eyes, “I heal people, so I suppose you could call this a hospital. We take in anyone in need and make them well again. I found you passed out from exhaustion in the desert – you were lucky I did, much longer and you wouldn’t have made it. Do you remember what happened?”

She tried to think. The thoughts came more easily than she expected.

_Catra! Please don’t!_

_Adora, we have to go._

_I never want to see you again!_

_Catra!_

Catra shuddered as the memories of the last day returned, “I do…”

“Did you touch any plants or get bitten by anything? We need to make sure you aren’t going to need any antivenom or something like that.”

“N-no…”

Catarrah heard the fear in her voice, “That’s good. Is everything okay?”

“I… I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Where are you supposed to be?” Catarrah leant towards her, adjusting a pillow so she could sit more upright.

“…gone.”

* * *

An hour. Two hours at most. That was how much sleep Adora had had the previous night, and now she was here in the Bright Moon War Room, barely awake, while everyone congratulated themselves for rescuing her and saving the planet. She paid no attention throughout the meeting – there didn’t seem to be anything of substance – and was glad when it finished, she could go back to bed and try to sleep again.

“Adora…” Angella put a hand on her shoulder as she neared the door, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, just wanting to get away from people.

The Queen closed the door, leaving them inside alone, “You’ve barely said two words since you got back. You look like you haven’t slept. You’re not fine, and I want to know why.”

Adora sighed loudly and sat back on her chair, “I left Catra behind and I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Well from the reports I’ve been given, it sounds like she didn’t want to go with you.”

“You don’t understand!” Adora almost shouted the words, “I should have done something or said something so she would! I failed her…”

Angella sat quietly, thinking over the girl’s words and how to respond.

“Adora, you are not responsible for that-”

“Well, who is then?!” she yelled, before catching herself and muttering an apology.

Angella sat down next to her, “Look, I know a thing or two about feeling responsible for others. After Micah died, I became terrified of losing Glimmer too, and I became obsessed with keeping her safe. But you know Glimmer, there was no amount of grounding or menial jobs around the palace that would keep her from adventuring. I believed I was trying to keep her safe, but all she saw was a strict mother who wouldn’t let her be herself. So she did even more to rebel against me and get herself into danger.”

Adora raised an eyebrow, “You’re saying Catra’s just rebelling against me? You really don’t get it, do you?”

“That wasn’t what I meant. Glimmer is her own person, and I have to trust that she knows what she’s doing. I’m still trying to grasp that, and I don’t always do it right. All I’m saying is that Catra is her own person too, capable of making her own choices. You have to trust her.”

“I do trust her, but… She’s not in her right mind, she needs me to… I don’t know!”

“You can’t be responsible for everyone all the time,” Angella tried to reassure her.

“I’m She-Ra, I _am _responsible for everyone all the time! If I’m not responsible, then the Rebellion fails. If the Rebellion fails, Etheria falls to the Horde. If Etheria falls to the Horde, the people get their lives destroyed and it’s all my fault!”

The Queen put her hand on Adora’s shoulder as she rose, “We do this together, never forget that. And that means we share responsibility. Now you look awful, so I’m ordering you to go to sleep.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Very good,” Angella headed out of the room, but stopped in the doorway, turning to Adora, “And Adora? She will be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to ChristaWolf for letting me use her character Catarrah. Check out Transcendence for another great She-Ra fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19240384


	3. Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are trying to help them, but Catra and Adora aren't accepting it. Catra recovers a little strength while Adora is dealt a lifeline from an unexpected place.

“Gone?” asked Catarrah, fearing that she already knew what the girl laying in front of her meant.

Catra nodded weakly as the woman lightly leant forward in the chair, “Catra, why did you come to the Crimson Waste?”

“To…” her voice went hoarse, and Catarrah picked up the glass of water for her to drink from again, “To do what I should have done the first time I was here. Die. That’s what they wanted.”

Catarrah sighed, “Oh, sweetheart.”

“Don’t…don’t do that. I don’t need your pity. I’m not worth it.”

The woman gently turned Catra’s head towards her, “Listen to me, Catra. There is nobody in Etheria who is ‘not worth it’. I’ve seen all sorts of people in this place – lost souls like yourself, criminals, gang members, people with nowhere to go – and every single one of them had something amazing inside them. However small it was, they were all wonderful people worth saving. You are too, pup.”

Catra laughed faintly, “Wow, that’s the biggest load of rubbish I’ve ever heard. There is nothing ‘amazing’ in me. Everything I tried to do right, people took any chance I had away from me, so I failed. I failed so hard that I lost everything and everyone.”

“I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s hard work to pick yourself up from this far down, but you can do it. I believe in you.”

“You don’t know me. Just go.”

Catarrah didn't want to force the issue while Catra was still frail. She reluctantly got to her feet, “I’ll let you get some more rest. But it will get better, trust me.”

She pulled the blinds over the window to darken the room and then left. Catra closed her eyes and thought about Catarrah’s words. ‘It will get better’ – what rubbish. She’d lost her friends, her home and her position in the Horde and she had nothing. This woman didn’t know a thing about her, so to come in spouting this happy-clappy nonsense was pointless. Once she had enough strength to move, she’d be out of here. As she drifted off, Catra felt the approaching freedom of unconsciousness, a place where she didn’t have to think about what a mess she’d made of her life. She welcomed it eagerly and sleep embraced her.

Twelve hours later, with the twilight outside casting long shadows of the blinds onto her wall, Catra awoke. To say she felt refreshed wasn’t entirely correct, but she could feel strength beginning to return to her body. She twisted on the bed and gingerly reached out for the water, her arm trembling under the effort. She grasped the glass and slid it towards the edge of the small wooden table beside the bed. With a struggle, she lifted the glass towards herself, but couldn’t quite manage. The glass fell to the floor, smashing into several pieces and splashing water across the linoleum. Catra let her body fall back onto the mattress, angry with herself for failing to do something so simple.

A minute later, Catarrah burst through the door, “Are you okay, pup? What was that noise?”

“I dropped the glass,” Catra mumbled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll sort it,” Catarrah bent down next to the bed, picking up the larger pieces and carefully placing them in what remained of the base of the glass. “I’ll be back in a second for the rest,” she said, taking away what she had.

Catra hated people caring. Every single day in her life, caring was what hurt her. If someone cared about her, it was only a way to use her. Shadow Weaver ‘cared’. Adora ‘cared’. And what happened to them? They found something better and left her on her own. If she cared about someone – like Adora – they would leave her with nothing. Everyone who she had ever cared about had betrayed her. No, she could never win by caring. And whoever this Catarrah person was, Catra told herself she was not going to get sucked in.

The door opened again, and the wolf-like woman wheeled in a mop and bucket with one hand, holding a new glass of water in the other, which she put down on the table. She began mopping the floor and talking while she did.

“You seem to be a little stronger than before. Physically, at least.”

Catra ignored her, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.

“I reckon you’ll be up on your feet in a couple of days. We’ll have you right as rain before long.”

The girl continued paying no attention. Catarrah cleaned up the rest of the mess without saying another word, leaving in silence. She knew there would be time to talk. Catra was at the start of a long journey, she just hadn’t realised it yet.

* * *

“Adora?” Glimmer stood outside her room, calling. There was no answer. “I’m coming in!”

The Princess teleported into the room and was shocked by the scene in front of her. The curtains were drawn, despite it being the middle of the day, shrouding the room in near-darkness. There were piles of creased and worn clothes strewn over the floor haphazardly, and Adora was laid on her bed in a pair of grey shorts and matching vest, staring at the ceiling.

“Whoa, what happened to you?” she opened the curtains, light flooding in and making Adora squint, then pull a pillow over her face to block out the sudden brightness.

“Go away, Glimmer,” came the muffled reply.

The pillow was forcefully prised out of her hands and thrown across the room, “You know as well as I do I’m not going to go away. You’ve hardly left your room since you got back from the Fright Zone. And now you’re… _this_!”

“Yeah well, it’s probably best for everyone,” Adora grabbed another pillow, that was instantly snatched away too.

“Best for everyone?” Glimmer fumed, “Or best for _you_? Seriously, Adora, you’re acting like a kid. Hiding yourself away because Catra didn’t want to come home with you? We stopped the Horde from destroying the entire planet!”

“You don’t get it.”

“No, _you_ don’t get it. Stop moping! You have much better friends right here, but you’re ignoring them for some selfish little pity party! And might I remind you, Catra is a horrible person!”

“Glimmer…”

“Look, if you want to talk about it, there’s plenty of people here. But we need you to be you. You’re brave and awesome and fun to be with, and we hate seeing you like this.”

Adora turned away, “I’m sorry, Glimmer. I just can’t help feeling like I let Catra down.”

She understood Glimmer’s point of view, truly she did. She wanted to go back to how things were, the Best Friend Squad going on adventures and uncovering the secrets of Etheria. She still hadn’t got any real answers about where she came from and her family, and she’d undoubtedly need their help to do it. But the look in Catra’s eyes as she lashed out at her haunted her. When she closed her eyes, she saw it again and again. Even just thinking about Catra made the same feeling of grief bubble up inside her and her eyes feel hot with tears.

“That’s it,” the Princess declared, “I’m getting my aunt. She’s good at this stuff.”

“Gli-“ Adora had no chance to finish the word before Glimmer had teleported out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, she heard a knock at her door, and Castaspella entered, “Wow, you’ve really taken this hard! Let’s talk, Adora.”

The blonde girl continued staring at the pattern on the ceiling above her, “I don’t want to talk. “

“Tough, you’re going to,” she smiled, “Look, Adora, I’m a trained counsellor, I can help you. I know, hidden talents, huh? Did it when I thought that this whole magic thing wasn’t going to pan out. But it comes in handy. Anything you say won’t leave this room, so please, tell me what’s going on.”

“Fine,” she sighed. Did nobody in that family know when to leave people alone? “I can’t stop thinking about how I should have saved Catra”

Castaspella held up a hand, “Whoa! I don’t like that word ‘should’. So full of judgement. Try saying ‘could’ instead.”

“Really?” Adora raised an eyebrow, “Saying ‘I could have saved Catra’ makes it sound like I just chose not to, and that’s not right.”

The older woman looked at her, saying nothing and waiting for her to come to the realisation.

“Wait...” she sat up, “I _didn’t_ choose to leave her there.”

“That’s exactly it, Adora. But just thinking that is not going to make things instantly better, I can tell there’s more. I’d really like to help. How about we meet once a week? You can talk about anything that bothers you and we’ll work through it together.”

Adora forced a grin, “Thank you, Casta. I’d like that. I want to get all this behind me.”

“Wonderful!” beamed the sorceress, “I’ll give you a few days to think about it and write down some things, then we’ll do this thing. It’s going to be great!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're still deep in the funk, but things will start to look up soon, I promise!


	4. Belief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Adora begins to open up to Castaspella, Catra tries to leave

In the following days, Adora tried to think about what she needed to talk about. She kept a piece of paper on her dressing table, with the intention that she could quickly write things down when she thought of them. But with only a few minutes before Castaspella’s visit, she had only written one word: Catra. It wasn’t to say that everything else was fine, but to Adora’s mind, every problem she had stemmed from the way she had let the girl down. Logically, she told herself, she couldn’t _force _Catra to come with her. But she couldn’t believe that deep down. Hearing voices outside in the hallway, Adora opened the door to see Casta and Glimmer chatting. She welcomed the sorceress in, giving Glimmer a quick ‘hello’ as she did.

“I see you’ve tidied,” Castaspella observed as she sat down on a chair, gesturing for Adora to do the same, “That’s much better than last time.”

“Glimmer helped,” Adora was a little nervous, and her terse sentences showed it. She felt vulnerable having someone coming in and getting her to open up. Throughout her childhood and teen years in the Horde, any display of weakness would have been met with severe repercussions – it just wasn’t something anyone did. If you felt sad, you pushed that down and threw yourself into your training until you forgot about it.

“Ah, that girl is a wonder! Shame she doesn’t keep her own bedroom in the same condition. But we’re not here for her. Tell me, Adora, what do you want to talk about?”

The blonde girl thrust her list towards the sorceress, “I tried to write down everything bothering me and, well…”

Castaspella looked at the single name, “Then I guess we had better start with Catra. What’s she like?”

“She used to be my best friend…” Adora wiped away a tear, not expecting to be crying quite this early into the session, “We did everything together, always looked out for each other. She was always a bit rebellious, but that was what made her Catra, you know? I never thought she would… I mean, I know she didn’t open the portal, but when she was stood there with her hands around the lever, it…”

She trailed off, prompting a gentle encouragement from the older woman.

“… it was the first time in my life that I didn’t believe in her. When she left me to die in the Beacon, I believed she wouldn’t do it right up until the moment she cut me loose. When she took me prisoner in Mara’s ship, I held out belief that she’d see sense and free us. Stupid really. But when she looked at me with all that malice, there was nothing in me that thought she would do the right thing. No speck of hope that she would listen to me. I yelled at her to stop and it felt completely pointless. I had given up on her and that scared me.”

Castaspella nodded slowly, as she thought about what Adora had told her. She tried to imagine the emotions the girl would be trying to process and understood how overwhelmed she would be.

“Why do you think it took you so long? I mean, I’m not being rude, but she had left you for dead a couple of times before and you still believed she was capable of good.”

“I guess… I guess I wanted to believe it because I promised her I’d look out for her. I’d make sure she was okay. If she was going to do things like that then she clearly wasn’t okay and I’d broken my promise,” Adora’s breathing became erratic as she started crying, “I’d… let her down…”

She buried her head in her hands and wept. The sorceress left her chair to embrace the sobbing girl and let her know it was okay to cry. She got the impression Adora had never thought this deeply about her relationship with Catra and why they both did the things they did. These first steps were often difficult and painful, but they were necessary for the healing process to begin.

“You did your best with her,” Castaspella grabbed hold of one of Adora’s hands, “I really hope you know that.”

Adora squeezed her other hand around the sorceress’ and her own, “I want to believe that. But I don’t.”

“It will come, I promise.”

* * *

After three days in bed, Catra’s strength and stamina was beginning to return to her. The first time she stood up she’d been a little wobbly, but she kept on trying and by now was almost back to her usual level of fitness. Catarrah continued trying to talk to her, but only got short, emotionless sentences in response, that didn’t lift any of the mystery around what was going on for her.

The moment she became confident she would be able to walk out of there, Catra readied herself. Though she’d never seen much outside her room, the building was small – she guessed there were no more than 4 or 5 rooms – so the way out was obvious. She strode purposefully towards the outside and the extreme heat of the Crimson Waste. Freedom awaited her.

“Where are you going?” Catarrah’s voice came from one of the side rooms, followed by the woman herself, stretching her arm out across Catra’s chest and blocking her in.

“I don’t need your help anymore. I’m fine, so I’m leaving,” Catra declared coldly.

“There is more to being fine than just physical ability. If I let you go, you’re just going to end up getting hurt… or worse…”

“Ah, so you do get it,” Catra looked at the woman with a sickly-sweet smile that masked the venom in the way she spoke. She pushed forward, but Catarrah was deceptively strong and held her back, “Get off me!”

“I am not letting you leave to go and die,” she said firmly, eyes narrowing with determination.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do! You’re just like everyone else, pretending to care so you can order me around. I’ve had enough of that! If I want to go, I am going to go and there is nothing you can do that will stop me!” Catra took a swipe at Catarrah, who ducked and retaliated, pinning a surprised Catra against the wall with her forearm.

Catarrah took a deep breath, thinking about what she could say to keep the girl here, “Fine. I’ll just need payment for the last few days.”

“Payment?!” Catra exclaimed as Catarrah released her grip a little, “Seriously? What part of ‘I lost everything’ is not getting through to you?! _I. Lost. Everything! _I have nobody. I have nothing to give!”

“Ah, but you do. You can work off your debt.”

The catgirl scoffed, “Yeah, no thanks.”

“It wasn’t a question. You do this, then I will let you go and do whatever you like out there in the desert. Alternatively, you can continue trying to fight against me, but I think you know you won’t come out on top.”

It’s true, she wouldn’t. Catarrah was remarkably agile and strong for someone her age, and clearly had some form of military training. She would be a formidable opponent for her at full strength, but Catra was still feeling some lethargy, and wasn’t confident she could best her.

“Uggghhh,” an infuriated groan came from her mouth, “Alright. Fine. Whatever.”

“Wonderful! You’ll start tomorrow morning.”

Catra wasn’t entirely sure why she hadn’t stood her ground more. As she skulked back to her room, she felt defeated and angry at herself for it – how could she let that happen again? The rage at herself rushed into her mind as she sat herself down on her bed, channelling itself into an anguished scream that she muffled with a pillow. Memories of all those who had tried to order her around and taken away everything she had flooded in, mixing with the hopelessness of her current situation. For the first time since she had arrived here, Catra cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to spend forever going through therapy with them (that would be a whole other story!), but I do want to try and have them open up about the way they feel and show that. Anyway, things will start looking up for Catra in the next chapter


	5. A Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra's first day turns out to be more important than she imagined. Back in Bright Moon, Adora comes to a decision.

“I hope you’re ready for a hard day’s work!” Catra was greeted by a cheerful Catarrah as she dragged herself into the glorified cupboard that was used as an office. She gave an unimpressed grunt in response. Ignoring the girl’s lack of enthusiasm, Catarrah handed her a bowl, “Here, your first job. Take room 2 their breakfast.”

Rolling her eyes, Catra snatched the bowl and left, grumbling to herself as she walked. Was this really what she’d been reduced to now? Taking mush to idiots who had got themselves hurt by their own stupidity? She shook her head and pushed the door open.

“Brought you food,” she said emotionlessly. The patient, an older lizard-like man, gestured for her to put it next to the bed. She navigated her way around the furniture, but her foot caught the bed leg. Her body expected her leg to be somewhere it wasn’t, and she overbalanced, falling to the ground. The bowl flew out of her hand, bouncing off the wall and dumping its contents over the floor.

Whoa!” exclaimed the man. Catra froze, waiting for the admonishment. She knew that making a mistake like that would invite all sorts of punishment and abuse.

“Are you okay?” the patient leaned over the edge of the bed, offering a hand to help Catra up. She snubbed the offer, getting to her knees on her own.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” she mumbled. Apologising never seemed to have any effect with Shadow Weaver, but she hoped that maybe being in hospital meant this man might be a little more merciful.

He laughed, “It’s fine, kid. It happens. Hey, I’ve not seen you before, are you new here?”

Huh? What was this? She had ruined this person’s breakfast and made a mess of the room and he was okay with that? Catra expected shouting, berating...maybe not violence since he probably wasn’t physically strong, but not this.

“I, uh…yeah. I’m just helping out to pay back Catarrah.”

The man smiled slightly, “You’ll get the hang of it, kid. Just get another bowl and try again. I’m sure the boss won’t mind.”

Catra nodded, rushing back out of the room. In the corridor, she fell back against the hard grey wall, burying her head in her hands and trying to breathe deeply. She felt wrong inside – undeserving of the kindness the man had shown her. There was a void that she had created inside the moment she tripped; a void that could only be filled with the abusive reaction she expected. It was how she dealt with all those times that Shadow Weaver and then Hordak had laid into her. That hadn’t happened this time and it didn’t feel right. The feeling of wrongness didn’t abate as Catra hurriedly fetched the man a replacement bowl of food and then spent the rest of her morning cleaning under Catarrah’s instruction, still angry at herself for the slip. After a break for lunch, she was asked to accompany Catarrah while she attended to another patient.

“This one is leaving us today and I think it would be good for you to see what we do here,” the older woman said as they crossed the corridor before entering the side room and greeting the person inside. Sat on the bed, a young woman not much older than Catra herself. She had fox-like features and was covered in a thin layer of brown fur, not too dissimilar to Catra’s. Her reason for being here was not immediately obvious, no bandages or tubes, no boxes of medicines or mobility aids.

“The big day, Laura. How do you feel?” Catarrah absent-mindedly tidied a few things on the small table next to the bed.

The girl smiled, “I’m okay. Super nervous though. I’ve been working on some drawings to try and calm myself, but...wow, I’m going home.”

“You’ll have to show me sometime! Laura here has been with us for a couple of months, Catra,” Catarrah explained, “I found her in a similar situation to yourself, but she’s doing amazingly now.”

“I don’t know about that,” Laura blushed, “But thank you.”

Catra’s curiosity got the better of her, and she asked the question on her mind, “Two months? What was wrong with you? … Uh, sorry…”

“No, it’s – it’s OK,” the girl replied. She went silent as she thought of what to say, “I gave up on myself. I ran away from home, ended up in the Crimson Waste, didn’t bother looking after myself and yeah, just…. Catarrah found me at my worst and brought me back here. I’m still getting better, but I’m ready to live my life again. This place saved me.”

The sudden realisation that there was someone else who’d been through similar things was like an electric shock to Catra. Ever since she walked out of the Fright Zone, she had been alone and thought that no-one could possibly understand her. But here, in front of her, was a girl just like her who had hit rock bottom but now had hope? How was it possible to come back from something like that?

“I’m just going to get some paperwork from my office,” Catarrah told them, “You two have a chat or something.”

She left the two girls to an awkward silence that neither of them really knew how to break. Eventually Laura apprehensively spoke up, “So what about you? Why are you here?”

Catra really wanted to come back with a barbed reply, to tell this girl where to go and to leave her alone. But something stopped her, a feeling she couldn’t quite put her finger on, and she opened up, “My best friend left me, my adoptive mother manipulated and betrayed me, and I had to run away from the place I called home because I couldn’t do one simple thing. I came out here and tried to die… couldn’t even manage that…”

Laura shuffled over and cautiously put an arm round Catra, who didn’t react to it, “She can help you, but you need to want to be well.”

“Pfft, why? What’s the point?”

“Because the world isn’t all bad. You’ve been dealt pretty much the worst deal in life, but it doesn’t mean things won’t get better. I mean, look at me,” Laura made a show of gesturing at herself, “I had the exact same thought as you – ‘why bother?’ – but now I’m happy. Well, not ‘happy’ happy, but I want to live, I’m excited to see what happens next for me. And now I’m going to go back home and try and make repairs. I never thought I’d be doing this. Ending up here is a miracle that not many people get, please don’t throw it away.”

Catra tried to smile, though it ended up looking more like she was trying to get something out from between her teeth. The strange sensation she’d had moments earlier had been stoked up, and an overwhelming feeling hit her. She still wasn’t sure what it was, but it brought tears to her eyes, which she wiped away, trying not to show Laura that she was crying.

“Right, we’re almost done!” Catarrah re-entered carrying a few sheets of paper, “Just need a couple of signatures here and you’re free to go! I really will miss you, you know.”

Laura sniffled a little, “I’m going to miss you too. I really cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done. You saved my life, Catarrah.”

“You’re going to get me crying too!” the woman replied, “But seriously, I wish you all the best. You’re going to do great…”

The two smiled at each other with such warmth that Catra was taken aback. This kind of love and kindness was something she had never seen… something she wanted. And from this feeling, an urge to say something grew.

“Catarrah… I want to be well.”

Laura squeezed her hand, “You can do it,” she whispered.

* * *

Back in Bright Moon, a week had passed and Adora was sat in her second therapy session. The previous one had been emotionally demanding, but she felt like it was helping. Or at least _going _to help, it hadn’t changed what she felt just yet.

Castaspella tilted her head slightly and smiled, looking across at Adora, “So the first time Catra saw She-Ra, you asked her to come with you?”

“I did,” Adora nodded, “I told her that the Horde was evil, and she should leave like I did. But she wouldn’t. She wanted to stay, even knowing the horrible things they were doing.”

“And what did she say?”

“She, uh… she tased me.”

The sorceress sucked air in through her teeth, “Yikes, that’s… that’s not great. Why do you think she did that?”

Adora leant forward, propping up her forehead with an arm resting on her knee, “I have no idea.”

“Well often when people do things that are out of character, it’s because they’re experiencing emotions they don’t know how to deal with. What do you think she might have been feeling?”

A few moments of thought passed, Adora trying to put herself in Catra’s position. It took a short while, but the answer stunned her, “…fear.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I think... maybe she was worried about being left on her own? I’d always been the one to protect her back when we grew up.”

Castaspella pushed a strand of dark hair away from her face, “Protect her from what?”

“Shadow Weaver,” Adora sat back, “She was horrible to us. Messing with our heads since we were very young, and Catra got the worst of it. She always made out like I was the golden child and Catra was a piece of rubbish. Shadow Weaver always used me to hurt Catra – ‘Oh, you’re not as good as Adora’ or ‘Adora can do this, you’re a failure’. That’s probably why I became so protective, I had to show her I didn’t just exist to make her feel second best. “

“Wait, Shadow Weaver did that? I knew she was a nasty piece of work for what she did to Micah, but I didn’t realise it was that bad. And it seems like you are still feeling guilty.”

“Huh…” Adora stopped, “I do feel guilty, still. Shadow Weaver really was horrible.”

Castaspella sighed, “And now she’s striding around Bright Moon like she’s the Rebellion’s saviour because she rescued you. I’m sorry, Adora.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said vacantly, lost in thought, “I’m not going to feel any better while she’s here though, am I?”

“That’s up to you.”

Adora felt her resolve strengthening, “I think... I think she’s still under my skin and I can’t sort things out while she’s still around me. I’ve got to get rid of her.”


	6. Heart to Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra looks for answers about where she is, while Adora is shocked by what Shadow Weaver has to say.

It had been an emotional afternoon for Catarrah, having to say goodbye to Laura. The girl was one of her biggest success stories, making progress so quickly and now having the confidence and the skills to head back out and face life. That feeling when you turn someone’s life around and you can see it in the way they talk and act; those genuine smiles of gratitude – that was why she did this. But now there was Catra. She was going to be a difficult one. There was a lot behind the façade, and she probably didn’t realise how bad she was. Nevertheless, helping the troubled was what Catarrah did, and no-one was an exception.

The door to her office opened slightly, and a face surrounded by wild brown hair peered around it, “Can we talk?”

“Of course, Catra, come in.”

She gestured towards an empty chair. Catra sat and looked around, not quite able to make eye contact with Catarrah. She’d felt awkward about telling her she wanted to be well. It was overdramatic, like a line from some soppy film, and, in the hours since, she was starting to regret saying it. Coming back from everything that had happened seemed almost impossible and she really did not have the motivation or mental energy to accomplish it. Even so, if there was – by some miracle – a way for that to happen, there were some things that she had to find out.

“I want to know what this place is,” Catra mumbled, staring at the floor, “It’s not a hospital is it?”

“It is. It’s just… maybe not the sort of hospital you were thinking of,” Catarrah leant back in her chair and chuckled, “I wasn’t lying when I said that I heal people. But you’re right, this place is somewhere people go when they can’t face their lives anymore, and they need some help. We don’t fix broken bones or cure diseases; we fix broken hearts and cure sadness.”

Catra tried to stifle a laugh, but ended up snorting, “Wow, that was cheesy as hell.”

“It made you laugh though. That’s good. I haven’t seen you laugh properly since you’ve been here. Look, this is a haven for people who are going through a tough time. We give people help so that they can start to live again. Things are going to get better for you, trust me. You’ll fix it.”

“I can’t do it,” the girl sighed, shaking her head, “I’ve messed up so much of my life, I don’t even know where to start. And I don’t think I _can_ fix this.”

Catarrah gently placed a hand on her knee, “No, you can’t. Not on your own. Which is why you don’t have to do it alone. This place isn’t about keeping you locked up until you feel better, it’s about giving you the tools to help you make the changes you need to. I’m with you every step, but it will be difficult.”

“I can’t do difficult…”

“Maybe you just need something to work towards. Is there something you want to achieve, or someone you want to reconnect with? Doesn’t matter how possible or impossible it seems.”

Catra wrapped her arms around herself and sat back in the chair, “I want my best friend back.”

“Did you lose her?”

“Mh...” she went silent and her entire demeanour changed. Catarrah could tell it was a painful subject but waited for Catra to continue of her own accord, “We grew up together in the Fright Zone. But then she left and found new friends, and I had to take the blame for it. Shadow Weaver – she was like our mother, except an awful person – took it out on me, which just made it hurt more. So I tried to hurt Adora back, and I didn’t care what happened to me in the process.”

“Oh, pup, I’m sorry. But you want to fix things?”

“I guess, yeah,” Catra thought for a moment, “I want Adora back in my life. But I’m scared I’ve done too much to make her hate me.”

Catarrah smiled warmly, “I can’t make people forgive, but I can give you the skills you need to have the best shot at repairing the relationship. It’s not going to be easy, Catra, you will need to try harder than anything you’ve tried before. You have to make this commitment for yourself. Can you do it?”

“I can try. I’m _going_ to try.”

* * *

Adora had spent several hours pacing around her bedroom, trying to formulate the speech she would give to Shadow Weaver. She had gone through so many options – being honest and making Shadow Weaver see her point of view; appealing to whatever sliver of a motherly instinct remained; threats…. Nothing really seemed like it would work on the sorceress. But it was getting late, and Adora knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she’d said her piece.

Now, she found herself stood outside the room where Shadow Weaver was living. After bringing Adora back from the Fright Zone, she had been feted as a hero; an example alongside Adora that people can change for the better, and the ‘prison’ had been returned to its former status as a bedroom. Adora prepared to knock, but found the door opening before she could make contact.

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver spoke in a tone that made her shiver. The way this woman could make simply saying her name sound threatening always put Adora on edge, “I’ve been expecting you, do come in.”

She stepped uneasily into the room, standing stiff as the sorceress shut the door behind her, then stood just close enough to feel intimidating, but not so close that Adora felt like she was able to say anything. She shuffled backwards, but Shadow Weaver maintained her proximity.

“You were… expecting me?” fear made Adora’s voice almost a squeak.

“Yes, I know you’re going to ask me to leave Bright Moon.”

This threw Adora off. How could she have known? Unless…

“Did Castaspella say something? She told me it would stay-“

“No, that… _woman_ has not talked to me. I have my ways.”

“You spied on me?” Adora’s heart sank. She should have guessed that Shadow Weaver would do something like that. But the invasion of her privacy gave her more determination to do what she came for, “That’s exactly why I want you to go. You’re still hurting me.”

Shadow Weaver laughed unnervingly, “Oh, Adora. Sweet, sweet Adora. I’m not going anywhere. Not now I have such a bright future ahead of me.”

“What do you mean?” the girl demanded.

“I’m getting to know the Queen _very _well. We’re bonding over our memories of Micah. Soon I shall be able to take her out and claim the throne and Bright Moon’s runestone for myself.”

“You can’t do that!” Adora shrieked, feeling simultaneously surprised and unsurprised that Shadow Weaver would be planning to seize power for herself, “I won’t let you! I’m going to get Angella to banish you from the castle and-”

A single spindly finger was placed on her lips, “Adora, you’re a smart girl. You know what telling tales results in for you… and your friends.”

“My friends?”

“It would be a crying shame if anything happened to them. Your Princess friend Glimmer. I have control over her power now, I wonder if she knows how easy it would be for me to dispose of her. She will be asleep soon, and I _do _hope she wakes up. And Bow, such a lovely boy. But no magic power to defend himself with. Maybe I’ll keep Glimmer alive a little longer so she can give me a helping hand to take him out. Do you think she would like to kill her best friend?”

Adora felt her body shaking. She had come in here to try and get Shadow Weaver to leave, but it now seemed a distant secondary objective. She couldn’t let this woman hurt her friends.

“Leave them alone!” Adora’s words were infused with fear and anger. Her eyes stared at the sorceress, but she maintained her composure.

“Gladly,” Shadow Weaver’s tone was unnervingly amiable, “But one word from you, and I assure you, Adora, you will be attending their funeral. Now go, I am tired.”

The wave of apprehensiveness that consumed Adora left her unable to do anything but acquiesce to the request. She returned to the hallway, thoughts and ideas fighting in her brain – should she ignore the threats and tell Angella? Should she stand by and just let her take over? Would she be able to fight? She-Ra was powerful, but Shadow Weaver was unpredictable and knew every move Adora would make.

She paused for a moment outside Glimmer’s bedroom, an internal conflict raging about whether to talk to her. The Princess could help, but it would be at huge risk to herself. Adora knew Shadow Weaver wasn’t bluffing, she would hurt Glimmer and Bow – maybe it would be best to keep them safe by saying nothing. She wasn’t happy about the decision, but, as she returned to her own room, she told herself she had no choice.


	7. Rise Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the next few months, Adora and Catra's lives both change, and they will soon be brought back together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, we're doing a fast-forward! I didn't want to skip too much, nor did I want to dwell and go into a lot of technical detail about Catra's story, so I really hope it doesn't detract. Shout-out to any readers who have done DBT, firstly you are awesome, and secondly, you'll probably recognise a few bits!

The next few months were hell for Adora. In the week after she’d met with Shadow Weaver, there was a noticeable dip in her mood, which she explained away as the result of having to tackle difficult issues in her therapy sessions. This wasn’t too far away from the truth. She and Castaspella spent a lot of their time talking about Adora’s relationship with Catra. It was still a very painful topic, sparking Adora’s feelings of regret at how things had deteriorated, and the way she blamed herself.

As they explored her past, it was becoming clear to Castaspella that a lot of the trouble came from Adora’s need to control things. When she was in an unpredictable situation, the impulse to try and control everything increased – and Catra was an unpredictable situation. It was a shock to Adora to hear this, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised it was true and that it contributed to the reason she felt she had failed. The following few weeks saw her learning to be more open and accepting that some things are beyond her control. Though it wasn’t easy, she took small steps – accepting tiny things didn’t make a great difference in the grand scheme of things, but it helped her feel masterful and that would help her with the bigger things.

It wasn’t as easy to do this with Shadow Weaver. Adora could only watch as she ingrained herself into the upper echelons of Bright Moon. She had convinced Angella that she was truly a changed woman, and the Queen responded by bringing her closer in. Glimmer was also taken in, as the sorceress trained her regularly in the use of her powers. It was as though she were Light Spinner once again, the respected sorceress of Mystacor, teaching gifted youngsters how to make the most of their power. Everyone loved her. Only Adora knew the truth, and she remained paralysed by fear.

Particularly galling was the way in which Shadow Weaver had installed herself as the Queen’s de facto advisor. She had undoubtedly, Adora thought, manipulated her way into such a position. Now each woman was rarely seen without the other, and they were constantly conferring with each other about various things. Angella had even gone so far as to carry out Shadow Weaver’s plan to replace the ‘prison’ with an actual cell, securing off a harsh, spartan space in the basement. It made Adora feel sick every time she saw them together, but Shadow Weaver’s threats forced her silence.

Unlike Adora, things were looking much more positive for Catra. She threw herself in to the intensive programme that Catarrah taught, and she was finding it more helpful than she had imagined. The first week or two was incredibly hard for her – overcoming the urge to give up was not easy, but she pushed on, guided by the opportunity to reunite with Adora. Over the first month, she learned techniques for controlling her emotions much better and how to avoid acting on them without thinking. She put that into practice right away, even talking through the times she had behaved poorly, and explaining to Catarrah what she would do differently this time. It felt powerful knowing that she could change her life for the better, and the way she had taken to these skills so well made her feel that she was genuinely able to recover.

After this, the two of them moved on to interpersonal skills, which would be most important for trying to reconnect with Adora. Catarrah helped her learn how to ask for something without resorting to demands or threats. It was totally unlike the way she’d been taught to communicate in the Horde; there, it was all about orders and coercion – great when you’re an invading army, not quite so useful to have healthy relationships with people. She also learned how to maintain relationships and resolve conflict, again, something she had never been taught growing up.

Finally, they tackled ways to help Catra accept the past. This was the most difficult thing for her, not in that she didn’t believe that Adora had left, or that she had come so close to destroying the planet – she recognised those things had happened. It was the fact that she was still having them going over and over in her mind, fighting to try and change the reality; saying to herself ‘If only I’d done this’. Catarrah told her that sometimes we don’t know every reason that something happened, and sometimes we can see how easy it would have been for things to be different, but she could only move forward by accepting that it was what it was and being at peace with it. Catra struggled to get her head around this concept – if something was so catastrophic that you thought you could never recover, how could you ever get to a position where you were okay with it?

But she kept on trying. She could feel how powerful the ability to truly accept reality would be, but it eluded her – and that was frustrating. The frustration got to her on many occasions, and she didn’t control her emotions as well as she could, but Catarrah responded with understanding and support. She also brought up a more radical suggestion of how Catra might be able to let go and put the past to bed.

“Maybe you need to face it head on,” she told Catra one afternoon, as they sat together in Catra’s room.

“What do you mean?”

Catarrah leaned forward, pushing a handful of hair back behind her so she could see, “Look, you’ve made so much progress here over the last few months. Perhaps it is time to put what you’ve learnt into practice in the outside world.”

Catra shivered. She’d carved out a safe environment for herself here, one where she finally felt competent, and where people were proud of her. It was her own bubble of happiness. But outside the front door was different. Life there was unpredictable and messy, and didn’t always fit exactly into the neat categories of things she'd learnt.

“I don’t… I’m not ready…” she stumbled over her words, a feeling of panic racing through her heart.

“Catra, trust me, you _are _ready. Look at you now, you’re recognising your emotions and controlling them well; you know how to deal with it when things go wrong; you’re strong now! The girl I found face down in the sand after trying to kill herself is now sat in front of me, happy and ready to take the next step to a life she wants to live. You can do this.”

The girl breathed deeply, feeling the fear make her stomach turn and her hands tremble a little, “What if I don’t? What if I fail?”

“What if you succeed?” Catarrah smiled. Catra began to imagine herself returning to Adora, nailing what she needed to say and the two of them reconciling and becoming best friends again. She reminded herself that this was entirely possible, and the thought that it could happen warmed her.

“I won’t know unless I try,” Catra took determination from the idea that a reunion could happen, and let her worries slip.

“Then we’ll get a plan together of how you can support yourself and get you back home.”

And so, a week later, Catra found herself looking out into the Crimson Waste, ready to move on. She and Catarrah had worked on an exit plan, which she held in her hand – techniques to remember to use her new skills and how to get help if she needed it. Emotion ran high as they said their goodbyes, Catarrah delighted at the work the girl had put in and Catra thankful for having a second chance at life.

“I’m so proud of you, pup,” Catarrah embraced the girl tightly, the realisation that she would soon be gone setting in.

Catra blushed, “Thank you. I… I wouldn’t be here without you. Literally, I would be dead if you’d let me leave back at the start.”

“It wouldn’t be happening without your hard work, don’t forget that. And if things get bad again, you have your plan, and you know where I am, OK?”

“Okay,” Catra nodded. The two of them drew apart, and with some trepidation, Catra took her first steps towards the outside and her future. It almost felt like an anti-climax – there was no welcoming fanfare from the Crimson Waste, just the usual oppressive atmosphere and hot sand underfoot. This time, her journey was more prepared: she carried food and water and referred to a map to ensure she wouldn’t get lost and could find safe spots to sleep along the way.

After a couple of day’s travel, she saw her goal come into view. The impressive Bright Moon castle loomed in front of her, sparking equal parts awe and nervousness as it stood contrasting the evening sky. She had had the conversation over and over in her head on the journey, but now it was time to do it for real. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the bridge and presented herself to the guard.

“Um, hi,” she mumbled uncertainly, “I’ve come to see Adora.”

While Catra was glad that she no longer had her Horde badges on, there was something in the guard’s demeanour that said they recognised her. They stared intensely at Catra, making her feel uncomfortable.

“Follow,” the guard ordered, their stoic expression not changing. Catra did as she was told, keeping a few steps behind as she was led through the palace interior. She’d never been inside the castle before, and its light décor and intricate fixtures were a complete opposite to the industrial, functional interior of the Fright Zone.

The guard stopped her in a vast hallway, knocking on a side door and entering, holding up their hand to indicate that Catra should not follow them in. She heard low voices but was unable to discern any words or identify the speakers. After a short conversation, the guard beckoned her in, holding the door open for Catra to pass through. She might have guessed that she wouldn’t have been taken straight to Adora, but the person standing in front of her sent a shock wave of panic through her.

“Catra…” Shadow Weaver drawled, “How wonderful to see you.”


	8. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra's arrival in Bright Moon doesn't go quite how she hoped

_Shadow Weaver…she…why is she here? I’m shaking, oh god, I’m shaking. I’m going to cry... She’s going to see. No, no, no. Not her. Not her. Is she talking to me? I’m not… it’s not going in. Come on Catra, calm down. Calm down. Think about your skills…what do I do? Grounding. Ground yourself. Right, I can feel my feet flat on the floor, I’m paying attention to the connection to the hard floor. I’m breathing in… 1, 2, 3, 4… and out… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And in… 1, 2, 3, 4. And out… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Okay that’s good, I’m feeling calmer. I’m…_

“She asked you a question, Catra,” Shadow Weaver’s tone reminded her of the way she would scold her when they were young. Catra’s hands were still trembling, and it took her focus away from what was in front of her.

“I didn’t…” she looked up, and only then became aware that Queen Angella was stood in the room with the sorceress, both women with their eyes fixed on her.

Seeing the girl’s blank expression, Angella repeated herself, “_What_ are you doing here, Catra?”

“I’ve come to make things right with Adora. I… I’m not with the Horde, I left them.”

The Queen began to speak, but was stopped by Shadow Weaver’s raised hand, “A likely story,” she challenged, “Your majesty, she is a master of manipulation and cannot be trusted.”

“She seems… different to the times I’ve met her before,” Angella peered at the girl, “She looks genuinely nervous, I really don’t think she is lying.”

The sorceress cackled, looking Catra straight in the eye as she ran her down, “Lying is the only thing this waste of space was ever good at. I raised this girl, I know what she is like, and trust me, she will _never_ change.”

Catra stood frozen, Shadow Weaver’s presence alone enough to intimidate her into silence. This was a mistake – five minutes she had been here, and already she felt powerless to use anything she’d learnt from Catarrah. She felt worry and anger rising up inside herself and couldn’t stop it.

“Then what do we do with her?” Angella asked, looking at Shadow Weaver as though she were some kind of oracle. Whatever she had said or done to manipulate her way here, Catra thought, the Queen had been completely taken in.

“Immediate imprisonment with a view to execution,” Shadow Weaver boomed, bringing tears to Catra’s eyes. The sorceress noticed, and took full advantage, “Don’t give me those fake waterworks. You know _exactly _what you are doing. That ploy never worked on me when you were a child, it will certainly not work now.”

Angella took a step forward and turned herself to face the masked woman, “The Rebellion does not execute prisoners, Shadow Weaver.”

“I suggest we make an exception for such a dangerous specimen. We must also ensure that Adora does not hear of this. For some reason, that girl has a weakness for this… _vermin. _If we are to ensure that she does not lose focus with her training, we must keep this from her.”

“That much I agree with,” the Queen muttered, deeply worried about the way Shadow Weaver was talking. Nevertheless, she trusted the woman, and if she said Catra was a risk, then Catra was a risk, “Guard, please take her to the prison.”

Catra jumped as they roughly grabbed hold of her shirt. The guard had a very different demeanour now they’d been ordered to imprison her. She was marched downstairs in stony silence and into the basement, where a makeshift cell had been installed in a corner. It was bare, a thin mattress the only comfort Catra could see, and the deserted area looked so very lonely. The guard threw her in, and she hit the concrete floor as they locked her inside.

“I just…wanted to talk to Adora…” she sobbed. Her captor ignored her, and left Catra afraid and alone, wondering why she ever thought she was well enough to leave the hospital. She chided herself for imagining walking into Bright Moon, being taken to Adora, talking things over and then becoming friends again. She should have known life was never straightforward for her, and she probably deserved this for feeling any kind of hope. Now she would never see Adora again, and that hurt more than any violence that could be dished out as punishment.

* * *

Glimmer was tired. She’d had a four hour-long training session with Shadow Weaver, and it had taken a lot out of her. So much so that she hadn’t noticed her staff was missing until she woke up from the short nap she took immediately after returning to her bedroom. The Princess panicked a little but reasoned that she’d probably left it in the training room - or maybe Shadow Weaver had picked it up after their lesson. Even so, she wouldn’t be able to rest easy knowing she didn’t have it and hauled herself downstairs, yawning and groaning to herself.

The training room was a short walk across the vast entrance hall. Glimmer plodded towards it, bleary-eyed and wishing she was still asleep, and pushed the door aside.

“Ah! There it is,” she muttered to herself, picking up the staff and slipping back out in a few seconds, “I am such a-“

On the other side of the hall, the Princess saw Shadow Weaver walking down the stairs to the basement. ‘Strange’, she thought, ‘Why would she go down there?’. Her initial bewilderment gave way to suspicion, and she felt the urge to follow the sorceress – just to make sure there was nothing wrong. Glimmer tried to be as quiet as possible as she descended the steps, and found a position hidden in the corner of a wall, behind a wooden crate, where she could hear Shadow Weaver’s voice.

“When I saw you had turned up, I felt such disappointment that I would have to deal with you again. But then I thought to myself… what a perfect opportunity.”

“Opportunity?” Catra’s voice made Glimmer quietly gasp. What was she doing here? She’d not seen her since they rescued Adora from the Fright Zone, and the unspoken consensus among people here was that she had been killed or sent to Beast Island in punishment. Her sudden appearance in the castle was the last thing Glimmer would have expected.

“You see, Catra, tonight will be remembered for many years in Bright Moon. Far into the future, people will still talk about the night that a Horde force captain escaped from a cell and killed the Queen.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened with the shock of the revelation, as she tried desperately to stay quiet and not give herself away.

“I’m not going to do that, Shadow Weaver. I’m not that person anymore.”

The sorceress chuckled, a chilling laugh that instilled fear in both Catra and Glimmer, “You’re not going to do it. You would fail like you always do. But you _are_ going to be blamed and executed for it.”

Catra banged on the bars of the cell, “You’re insane!”

“Not at all, Catra. I’m the one who will find the culprit. And then, once I get rid of that irritating little Princess and take control of Bright Moon’s runestone, I will take my place as Queen. It will be so noble of me to take charge at such a horrible point in Bright Moon’s history.”

“No…no…” Glimmer heard the panic in Catra’s voice, “Someone will stop you. ADORA?! ADORA!!”

“Adora cannot hear you, Catra. There are thick walls down here, so no-one can hear your miserable braying. Now, I must prepare for this emotional night. I will see you very soon,” the sorceress turned and made her way back towards the door. Glimmer huddled herself tightly in the corner and held her breath, terrified she would be seen or heard, but Shadow Weaver passed her by without any knowledge of the Princess’ presence. Glimmer waited in a panicked silence, trying to balance staying long enough for Shadow Weaver to be well away from the entrance, but not so long that her plan could be set in motion. Finally, sure that she could safely leave, she got to her feet, dusting herself off as she did so. Though she tried to make as little noise as possible, the isolated nature of the basement meant that even a small sound like that was noticed.

“Hello?” Catra called, “Is there someone there? I need your help!”

The Princess briefly flirted with the idea of ignoring her plea, but a sense of responsibility won out. She couldn’t leave the girl alone, even if it _was _Catra, the person who had caused the Rebellion more problems than she cared to remember – not to mention how annoying she was. She inhaled deeply, in an attempt to stay calm, and stepped towards the cell.

Catra’s relief was evident, “Oh my God, Glimmer, thank goodness. Shado-“

“I heard the whole thing,” time was at a premium, so the Princess didn’t need to go through it all again, “I’m going to get Adora, and once we’ve sorted out Shadow Weaver, we’ll be back for you, OK?”

“Y-yeah, OK. Um, thank you Glimmer.”

“Ha! You _do _know my name!” she laughed, an attempt to reassure both Catra and herself, as she raced away. It was only when she reached the top of the stairs that she remembered she had the power of teleportation – the fright of what she’d heard had completely knocked it from her mind – and she sent herself straight into Adora’s room.

“Adora!” she yelled to the incredibly surprised girl, who was laid on her bed reading, “Shadow Weaver is going to kill my Mum and blame it on Catra who is downstairs in the prison and we need to go NOW!”

Adora sat up, falling silent for a few moments as she processed the tirade of information, “Catra’s here?”

“Uh, yeah…” the fact that Adora focused on that and not the imminent murder of her mother confused Glimmer, “Once we’ve stopped Shadow Weaver, I told her we’d come and get her.”

“No, no no… we get Catra first,” Adora shook her head. She needed to see Catra. After so long with no idea what had become of her, her presence was something she wouldn’t be able to ignore. Besides, she could be useful, she knew Shadow Weaver well. Glimmer thought better of arguing. It would only delay saving her mother, and whatever reason Adora had for wanting her there, she trusted her friend would know best. She grabbed hold of Adora and teleported the two of them to the basement. Catra was sat on the floor, anxiously waiting and willing Glimmer and Adora to succeed, when the two girls appeared in front of her.

“Adora…” emotions rushed through her brain – she couldn’t even tell what they were right now – and she was compelled to apologise. She had no idea what for – probably everything, “I’m sorry.”

The blonde girl grabbed hold of the bars and looked straight at her, “I’m sorry too…”

“Can we not do this now?” Glimmer interrupted the tender moment with her blunt words, “We need to go!”

“I think with She-Ra I can break through this lock,” Adora looked over at Glimmer, who nodded, then she raised her sword into the air, “For the honour of Grayskull!”

Catra turned away. The sword…She-Ra took Adora away from her. She-Ra left her at the mercy of Shadow Weaver. She-Ra meant that Adora wasn’t there when Hordak sent her to die. She-Ra was the whole reason she failed to open the portal. She-Ra… Catra caught her breath, noticing how worked up she’d got in just a few seconds. Getting angry over this was pointless, but as she looked back and saw how Adora wasn’t _her _Adora anymore, the pangs of emotion returned. It was entirely unjustified, but she felt like She-Ra had once again removed the possibility of reunion.

With a quick chop of the sword, She-Ra broke the cell’s lock in two and the door opened. Catra stepped out, only to find herself wrapped in a hug from the tall girl. She felt awkward, both from the conflicted feelings she had about She-Ra and the fact she felt that she didn’t deserve this kindness – certainly not from Adora.

“Again,” Glimmer persisted, “Not the time!”

She touched She-Ra’s arm and instantly teleported the three of them into her mother’s chambers. The sudden change of scenery alarmed the other two, and they broke apart, mildly embarrassed, looking at each other briefly before turning towards the centre of the room and gasping. On the opposite side, Shadow Weaver had Queen Angella pinned up against the wall, her hand around her neck as the monarch struggled to take shallow breaths. The sorceress stared right through them.

“What a touching reunion.”


	9. Confrontation and Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Adora, Glimmer and Catra stop Shadow Weaver? And what happens when the sorceress says something that will change Angella's life forever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are not ready for this! I'm super proud of how this turned out

“Leave her alone!” Glimmer shouted, running at Shadow Weaver and launching a ball of light at her. Momentarily distracted, the sorceress let Angella drop to the floor, where she slumped against the wall, barely conscious.

“Glimmer, what perfect timing. You’re just about to help me get rid of your mother,” Shadow Weaver violently grabbed at Glimmer’s wrist, making the Princess yelp as she dragged her across the ground. The girl struggled, but the woman’s tight grip prevented her from moving, “Don’t fight it. And don’t bother trying to teleport your way out, I have spent months learning how to control your powers, you cannot use them.”

Disbelieving her, Glimmer tried anyway. But no matter how hard she focused, or the effort she put in, nothing happened – not even the tiniest sparkle. She became alarmed, looking across at She-Ra to beg the girl to help her. Adora rallied herself, and strode forward, sword raised. “Let go of her,” she said, staring the sorceress down.

Shadow Weaver didn’t move or relinquish her grip, so She-Ra swung the sword at her. The sorceress teleported herself and Glimmer out of the way, taunting Adora from her side. Again, She-Ra swiped and again the sorceress used the Princess’ powers to evade it. Over and over, they repeated this cycle, until she could see the toll it was taking on Glimmer. The girl could barely stand, and her eyes were filled with tears that were a mix of exhaustion and fear. Shadow Weaver was draining the magic from her, and she was powerless to do anything about it. Clearly, She-Ra had to use a different tactic.

“Catra, help!” she shouted. Whatever part of Catra first interpreted her words took the quick plea as another example of Adora ordering her about, and her entire body tensed up. But her rational mind kicked in and shook off those feelings, and she jumped towards Shadow Weaver. The sorceress, however, saw her coming and fired a shot of a spark-infused shadow from her hand, that knocked Catra to the floor. She landed hard, pain shooting in her shoulder where she had been hit and laid staring at the ceiling while she tried to recompose herself.

She-Ra tried to use the distraction to her advantage, diving with her sword outstretched, but she too could not outwit Shadow Weaver. With Glimmer screaming in the pain of being forced to yield magic she didn’t have, the sorceress teleported them to the opposite side of the room. She-Ra continued into the empty space where they once were, colliding firmly with the wall.

“Your time is up,” Shadow Weaver’s eyes locked onto Angella’s as she threatened the monarch. She raised her right hand, and a ball of shadow began to amass around it.

“St- stop!” implored Glimmer, breathless, shaking and crying from the sorceress’ heavy leeching of her magic, “It hurts…you’re hurting me! Please, just… leave me alone!”

The darkness around Shadow Weaver’s hand grew larger still, crackling with red sparks, as she took every last bit of magic from Glimmer’s body. The Princess’ cries were ignored by the woman, whose intense stare was met by a terrified one from Angella, scared both for herself and her daughter. Shadow Weaver reared her hand back and threw the powerful dark ball of magic at the Queen.

“Mum!” screamed Glimmer, with the last of her energy.

The missile flew towards Angella, a spell so powerful that she could not hope to survive it. The monarch watched as it grew closer and closer, the last few seconds of her life, and then... a flash of white and gold flew across her vision. The spell hit She-Ra square in the chest as she flung herself in front of the Queen, knocking her backwards into the corner of the room, where her sword flew out of her hand and she transformed back, lying motionless on the ground.

“Adora!” Shadow Weaver exclaimed. Though few would believe her, she was genuinely concerned - even if that concern came from a selfish desire to use She-Ra’s power to support her own. For a few moments, everything else left her mind; she dropped Glimmer to the floor and ran towards the girl she had just hit.

Seeing what had just happened and Shadow Weaver approaching Adora, Catra stood up and launched herself towards the sorceress, her foot making solid contact with the woman’s stomach, “Don’t touch her!”

Shadow Weaver doubled over, wheezing from the impact of the strike, while Catra bounced off her, landing on her feet in front of her. The door burst open, and several of Bright Moon’s guards rushed in, alerted by the screaming they had heard. The scene that awaited them shocked them – The Queen barely able to stand, Princess Glimmer laid on the floor in tears, Adora’s lifeless body in the corner, and the prisoner attacking Shadow Weaver. With unspoken organisation, they split up and each attended to a different person, with three of them taking hold of Catra, whose protests fell on deaf ears.

“Take… her to the prison,” a winded Shadow Weaver ordered, one arm laying across her stomach to try and counteract the pain.

“No!” Angella called out, her shaking hand pointed towards the sorceress, “She did this. Stop _her_.”

For a moment, confusion reigned between the guards, unsure why they had been directed to ignore a dangerous escaped prisoner but arrest the Queen’s closest advisor. Even so, they had been ordered and were duty bound to obey. The trio who were holding a struggling Catra gently let her go and rushed to grab hold of Shadow Weaver. The sorceress did her best to hold them off, but without Glimmer’s power, she was weak, and easily overpowered. The guards swarmed her, restraining her arms and leading her towards the door.

“This isn’t over, Angella!” the sorceress shouted as she was taken out of the room, “You won’t stay here! I will be back! I will get rid of you like I did Micah! Then I will have the power I deserve!”

The Queen shuddered at the name of her husband. Did Shadow Weaver really…? But why would she say that if-

“ADORA!” Catra’s plaintive yell interrupted her thoughts. She was crouched over Adora, who had since been rolled onto her back in the centre of the room. The blonde girl had not awoken, and Angella could see her clothes were ripped just below her collarbone, heavily bruised skin visible underneath where the spell had hit her.

“Please, Adora,” Catra cradled the girl’s head in one arm, tears streaming down her face, “I came back for you… please don’t… please don’t leave me….”

Angella staggered over to the two of them and placed a hand on the distressed girl’s shoulder, “Catra…”

“There’s so much I still need to say, Adora,” she wept, ignoring the Queen’s touch as she focused entirely on Adora, “You can’t - not now. I’m so sorry for everything, I… I’m sorry I was so awful to you. I need you, and I know I’ve done things I can never take back and you probably hate me and won’t ever like me again, but… I _still_ like you. Adora, please… wake up. _Please…_ I know it takes more than that to beat you.”

A hushed silence fell across the room, an awkward calm that belied the events that had just taken place, punctuated only by Glimmer’s quiet sobs.

“How- how embarrassing…” Adora smiled despite the overwhelming pain that had come with her returning consciousness. Her eyes slowly opened to see Catra’s face, “I can’t believe you like me…”

* * *

Angella woke the next morning, tired from the lack of sleep caused by a mind still buzzing from everything that had happened. She could still feel Shadow Weaver’s bony fingers wrapped around her throat, but it was the sorceress’ words that had left more of an impression.

_I will get rid of you like I did Micah._

As she understood it, Micah had died whilst fighting for the Rebellion - that much she accepted, but the circumstances around that were still a mystery. They had never even found his body. Could it really have been Shadow Weaver who dealt the fatal blow? Angella realised she had the chance to find out whilst the sorceress was captive, and she would take advantage. She needed answers, and enlisted Castaspella’s help to do so. When she’d been told what the woman had said, her sister-in-law was just as eager to talk to Shadow Weaver. And so, the two women descended to the basement, prepared to interrogate the prisoner.

“I’ve made sure this one isn’t ‘_sloppy’_,” Castaspella threw Shadow Weaver’s words back at her as she prepared a truth spell, “You will tell the truth this time.”

Shadow Weaver inspected the runes that had been drawn in the air in front of her, “Better this time.”

“I have no time for small talk,” Angella interjected with determination, wanting to get straight to the point, “Did you kill Micah?”

“No,” came the terse reply.

“Then why did you say you did?”

Shadow Weaver chuckled to herself, “I didn’t say I killed him.”

“You’re lying!” Angella momentarily lost her composure, “Casta, you must have made a mistake with the truth spell.”

“Not at all, she did it perfectly…_somehow_,” the masked woman was remarkably calm given her situation, “You just aren’t asking the right questions.”

The Queen growled slightly, enraged by Shadow Weaver’s blasé tone, “Then what _should _I be asking? Just tell me what happened to my husband!”

“Very well, I have no choice but to. I did not kill him. As you know, Micah was an exceptionally gifted sorcerer. With enough experience and training, his power could have rivalled that of a Princess. As he gained that experience, he became a problem for me. With him leading the Rebellion, he was going to turn the tide of the war and I could not allow that. When Micah came to the Fright Zone, he came to seek out me in particular. I presume to try and reason with me – he always _did _prefer talking to fighting. But I had something he did not, the Black Garnet’s power coursing through my veins. I could easily have killed him, if only he hadn’t been _him._”

Angella took a step forward towards her, “What do you mean, _been him_?”

“Micah was my student,” Shadow Weaver looked at the floor, “I tried but there was something deep in me that could not kill him. Call it sentimentality if you will, but I couldn’t do it. So I tried something else to take him out of the equation. I was at the height of my magical ability, and deeply involved in Hordak’s attempts to create a portal. I had practiced, but even using the full power of the Black Garnet, I could only sustain a small portal that went nowhere for a few seconds. It was still enough though. I created a portal and sent him through into a blank dimension, where he has been ever since.”

“So Micah is…?” the Queen gasped, the revelation swamping her with relief.

“Alive? I suppose you could say that. But I know what you are thinking, Angella, and you couldn’t possibly open a portal to the blank dimension, the amount of power it would require is beyond your ability.”

“And if I helped her?” Castaspella’s eyes remained fixed on Shadow Weaver; she was still very suspicious of the woman.

Shadow Weaver laughed, “You would probably kill the both of you if you interfered. You’re not even _half_ the sorcerer Micah was.”

Castaspella lunged forward at the bars, causing the imprisoned woman to jump back, “Don’t you dare!”

Angella held her sister-in-law back with an arm, “Casta, stop! We won’t get anywhere through anger. But I know something that might just help...”


	10. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer feels the effects of Shadow Weaver's actions, and is surprised by her mother's news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We keep the drama going! Just a quick note of caution - Glimmer's reaction is very much like anyone who has experienced violence against themselves, and these reactions could bring up stuff if you have too.
> 
> Other than that, enjoy!

With her newfound knowledge of what happened to Micah, Angella knew she had to tell her daughter straight away. She rushed to the infirmary, where Glimmer and Adora had been taken as a precaution after their ordeal. Outside Glimmer’s room stood Bow, staring at the floor pensively.

“Bow, is everything alright?” Angella asked.

The archer was startled. He looked up at her and bowed slightly, “Your majesty.”

The Queen chuckled. They had known each other for years, yet the boy’s formality with her never wavered, no matter how many times she told him it was unnecessary.

“Is there a problem?”

“N-no. It’s just… Glimmer is…”

His words sparked worry in the monarch, “Has something happened to her? Did they find injuries we didn’t know about? Is s-”

“No, nothing like that,” Bow calmed her, “But she isn’t herself. Be gentle with her, okay?”

“I see. I will be,” the Queen put her hand on the door, then turned towards the archer, “You’re a good friend to her, Bow. Thank you.”

Bow smiled as Angella pushed open the door to the room and saw her daughter lying on her back, eyes open and lost in thought.

“Glimmer?” she approached softly, “How are you feeling?”

Silence.

“Glimmer, darling, are you okay? Bow is worried about you, and I am too.”

Still no response. Angella reached to touch her daughter’s arm, but the girl recoiled away violently, “No! Don’t!”

“Glimmer! What on-” her initial surprise was cut short as she realised the reason for Glimmer’s unusual reaction, “I’m sorry… I should have thought…”

“I had this dream,” the Princess’ tone was detached and emotionless, as though she had taken no part in the preceding conversation, “I was in my room, lying in bed and trying to sleep. I heard the door open, so I looked down and I saw Shadow Weaver walking in.”

“Oh, Glimmer…” the Queen felt her daughter’s pain.

“And I just watched as she came up the steps. I just _watched_. I wanted to get away from her, but I was just frozen. I couldn’t move. It was like I told my body to start running, but I didn’t have control anymore. She reached out to my arm, and I did nothing. I just let her take hold of it,” the girl’s voice began to break as her eyes welled up, “And I just… felt all the magic leaving my body, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it happening. I didn’t even feel like I was there anymore. Once she had everything, she just left and I…I cried so much I woke up…”

Angella tried to fight off tears of her own, empathising with her daughter, “My poor child. It was just a dream; she can’t hurt you now.”

“Just a dream?!” Glimmer sat upright and raised her voice, “Look!”

She held her forearm up to her mother. Angella took a sharp breath when she noticed the ring of bruises around the girl’s wrist from where Shadow Weaver’s vice-like grip had hold of her.

“Look at it! That’s not just a dream, Mum. It really happened to me. I was so stupid and impulsive, and I ended up getting hurt.”

“No, darling, no. She is an evil woman who lied to us all, you couldn’t have known she would do that,” Angella wanted to hug her daughter tightly and reassure her but knew that it would do more harm than good.

“I feel like an idiot, I should have realised she hadn’t changed. I shouldn’t have done all that training with her and let her gain access to my power. I shouldn’t have teleported everyone right into the room and into danger. I should have listened to Adora. I made all these silly mistakes and look what happened to me.”

“Glimmer, you’re not to blame for any of this.”

The Princess sighed, her arms wrapped around her body as she rocked slightly, “Sure...”

Her mother perched on the edge of the bed. Glimmer balked a little, but relaxed once she was sure she wasn’t going to get closer.

“What she did was wrong, darling, you must understand that. Nothing about what happened was your fault, okay? I know you can’t believe that at the moment, but please trust me. It’s not your fault.”

“I just wish it had never happened. I keep going over the things I could have done differently so that it didn’t,” a few tears dropped from her face, landing on the mattress below.

Angella felt powerless to help her daughter. Seeing that despicable woman turn tough, independent Glimmer into the vulnerable girl weeping in front of her gave her a profound feeling of anger. She wanted to march down to the prison, grab hold of Shadow Weaver and punch her until – No, that wouldn’t help. Angella stayed in thought a while longer, wishing she could provide something – _anything _\- _to_ take away her daughter’s suffering, until she came up with an idea. She excused herself from the room, reappearing five minutes later with Catra and Adora in tow.

“Glimmer? I can’t understand what you’re going through, but I think these two might.”

Catra quietly slinked into the room, standing against the wall near the door, while Adora staggered slowly in, her injuries just about allowing her to limp in and sit on the bed. They both looked at Glimmer, who was curled up on top of it.

“Hey, Glimmer…” Adora began, trying to sound as friendly as she normally would. The Princess stayed immobile and grunted a response.

The blonde girl continued, “Look, what Shadow Weaver did…we understand. She treated us horribly when we were kids, but you need to know that you’re stronger than she is. Catra agrees.”

_Catra agrees. _Just that short statement put the girl on edge. Adora, _again _telling her what she had to think and feel. _Catra agrees._ She did agree, but how dare Adora just assume? Catra felt her breathing get quicker, and the room around her get more distant. _Catra agrees. _Even now, Adora wouldn’t let her be her own person. Here she was, talking away to Glimmer without even thinking about the friend she’d left behind. Standing in the room rapidly felt more and more unbearable to Catra, and she had to leave quietly to escape the tense atmosphere that her head had created in there. Outside, the brightness of the hallway felt like a respite. Catra’s thoughts calmed, allowing her to focus on her breathing as the anxiety subsided. She even felt a little proud that she had managed to handle the spike of emotion without any negative effects.

Inside the hospital room, Adora’s words had begun to break through. Though the pain of the experience was still raw, both mentally and physically, being reminded that she wasn’t alone had helped Glimmer. Of course, Adora had never gone through the exact same thing she had, but they realised their emotions and reactions to Shadow Weaver’s abuses were not dissimilar. It gave Glimmer a little boost to talk about how she was feeling with someone who understood.

Pleased to see a little spark of hope in her daughter, Angella felt it was time to bring up the reason she was here. She felt a little awkward about changing the topic, given her daughter’s frame of mind, but it was important, “Glimmer, there’s something I need to tell you. Your father, he’s… he’s alive.”

The Princess jolted upright, “He’s what? How?”

“Shadow Weaver said something odd last night, and your Aunt Casta and I went to ask her about it this morning. Under the effect of a truth spell, Shadow Weaver told me that she had sent him through a portal to an empty dimension.”

“A portal? An empty dimension? Can we get him back?”

“I think so,” smiled the Queen, “With Shadow Weaver’s skill, your Aunt and I should be able to return him to our world.”

Glimmer and Adora both gasped, and it was the taller girl who voiced their concerns, “Your majesty, working with Shadow Weaver is too dangerous. You saw what she did…”

“There will be no risk. Casta is preparing the Spell of Coercion as we speak. She will have no option but to help.”

“No!” yelled Glimmer, the sound drawing a concerned Catra back into the room to see what was going on, “Have you not been paying attention?”

Angella looked confused, “It’s okay. Shadow Weaver literally won’t be able to hurt us.”

“That’s not the problem. Do you even realise what you’re doing?” her daughter got to her feet, incensed, and paced around in front of the Queen, “You’re going to do to her exactly what she did to me. She might be an evil woman, but I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through, not even her!”

“It’s not like that…”

“Then tell me what it’s like, Mum! Because right now, it sounds like you want to force her to do what _you_ want,” Glimmer’s eyes felt hot, but she was determined not to cry, “Last night, that woman took away every bit of control I have over my power and the memory of that will stay with me forever. I have nightmares where she comes and forces me to relive her draining every last bit of magic out of me. I can’t even bear to let my friends touch me right now because my brain tells me it’s happening all over again. I haven’t felt safe since it happened, and I’m scared that feeling will never go away. So tell me, help me understand, Mum, because I am _dying_ to know, why would you do that to someone else? Why do you want to be someone who takes away another person’s free will? Why do you want to be just like _her?!_”

Glimmer breathed deeply, still trying to keep the tears away.

“She’s right,” Catra’s quiet voice drew the attention of the room, “Don’t lower yourself to Shadow Weaver’s level.”

Angella sniffled, genuinely affected by her daughter’s speech, “I don’t want to, please believe that. If there was another way, I would take it, but Casta and I don’t have enough power between us to get your father back.”

“Then what if…” Glimmer looked earnestly at her mother.

“No. No way, it’s too dangerous.”

“Come on, Mum, please.”

Adora stepped in, “I’m lost, what are you talking about?”

“I want to use my magic to help,” Glimmer explained, “But for some reason, she won’t let me.”

“Because you’ve just been through a horribly traumatic experience, Glimmer!” Angella scolded, “You’re in no state to try and power a spell this dangerous!”

“I don’t care! I just want Dad back!”

“Glimmer, I…”

“Please Mum, you said that if there was another way, you’d take it. This is another way.”

Angella rested her head in her hand. Casting this spell would be incredibly difficult, and she wasn’t even sure of her own ability to handle it, let alone that of her daughter. She worried that Glimmer was blinded by the potential to get her father back, and not seriously considering the risk to herself. But then again, Glimmer always knew her own mind. And for all the harm she had done, Shadow Weaver _had_ put the Princess more in touch with her powers. If it was too much, she would surely know.

“Okay,” she said quietly, reluctant to agree, “But if I see any danger to you, we will stop casting immediately.”

Relief spread through the room. Glimmer, particularly, felt comforted that her mother would not cross the same line that Shadow Weaver had transgressed the night before. She also hoped that aiding with the spell might provide her with a feeling of control, so that the most recent memory of her using large amounts of magic wasn’t one where she was not in charge of herself.

“Thank you, Mum. For everything,” Glimmer smiled at her mother. Angella was heartened to see a scintilla of positivity from the girl, which helped reassure her that she had made the right decision. The visitors left the Princess to rest up ahead of her mission, and Glimmer got herself comfortable for a nap, hoping she would not see Shadow Weaver while she slept.

A couple of days later, Catra and a recovering Adora joined Glimmer, Angella and Castaspella in the runestone’s chamber. Being next to the stone would heighten their power, and they needed as much as they could to be able to create a link through to this blank dimension.

“Remember, Glimmer. If anything feels even slightly wrong, you tell me and we stop,” Angella reminded.

“I know, Mum. I’m doing this,” the Princess remained determined.

Angella looked over at Catra and Adora, “When the portal opens, we won’t be able to keep it open for long, so I will need your help to pull Micah back through as quickly as possible. Be ready.”

The two girls nodded and watched as preparations began. Castaspella began drawing the runes that Shadow Weaver had told her to. When she was done, Angella took hold of her hand, and she reached out to take Glimmer’s in turn. The Princess flinched, apprehensive about the touch, but steadied herself and made the connection. The runes began to glow in the air in front of them, then slowly rotate. They picked up speed, until they became a spinning disc of light. All three women began to focus their magic on it, audibly straining at the limits of their power. Electric-like crackling arced out from the disc around them, but they held their attention on channelling all they had.

Glimmer began to glow, making Adora gasp. She could see something was wrong, but before she could yell at them to stop, all three were wrapped in the same brilliant light, forcing Catra and Adora to shield their eyes. A split-second later, the light died down, and the girls took their hands from across their faces.

Catra’s mouth gaped open as she looked at what was in front of her, “Adora…?”

“Yeah, I’m seeing it too.”

“They’re… they’re gone.”


	11. Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and Catra go to Shadow Weaver to get answers about what happened to Glimmer, Angella and Castaspella, but Catra's temper gets the better of her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The management bear no responsibility for any emotions caused by reading this (seriously, I was in tears writing it sometimes!). Hope you enjoy!

“Talk,” ordered Adora, “What did you make them do?”

Shadow Weaver squinted at the two girls in front of her cell, “Adora, I do not care for your tone.”

“Tell me! You gave them the wrong spell, didn’t you?”

“Not at all,” the sorceress’ calm demeanour being completely opposite to the riled-up girl, “That woman somehow conjured a decent truth spell, and I had no choice.”

Catra grabbed hold of the bars, slightly pushing her face through a gap between them, “Then why have they disappeared? Glimmer started glowing, then they just vanished.”

“Glimmer?” Shadow Weaver started backwards, sounding genuinely surprised.

“My friend?” Adora reminded her, “The girl you _broke _the other night with your hunger for power?”

“Don’t be flippant, Adora, I know who she is. Given her powers, I would say that introducing her into the spell likely caused them all to teleport _into_ the dimension.”

“They can come back, though right?” Catra didn’t understand quite why she was so worried. Glimmer wasn’t exactly her best friend – she’d taken Adora away from her – but somehow, she’d become concerned about the Princess. Maybe it was their shared experiences at the hands of Shadow Weaver that had forged the connection.

The sorceress leaned back, seemingly paying more attention to the back of her hand than to the two people talking to her, “If they have enough power, I suppose.”

Her dismissive attitude enraged Catra and she roared, swiping her claws through the bars.

“Don’t!” Adora pulled her back.

“Stop telling me what to do!” the girl yelled, shrugging off Adora’s touch as she stepped away. She intended to calm down by taking herself away from the sorceress.

Shadow Weaver remained unfazed, “Adora, you really need to do a better job of controlling her.”

Her words hit another nerve, and Catra tore back towards the cell, temper firmly lost. Adora’s arm caught her before she reached it, and the blonde girl held her back as she screamed at the sorceress.

“Adora doesn’t control me! You are lucky you’re locked in there, because without these bars I would be_ killing _you right now!”

“Catra, no…” Adora’s words fell on deaf ears.

“Then I should be glad your keeper has you restrained,” Shadow Weaver sneered, deliberately trying to provoke the girl.

“She is not my keeper! _You..._you wanted her to be, didn’t you? You always told her to control me because it was easier for you not to have to look after a child you HATED, wasn’t it?!”

The sorceress shook her head dismissively, not even trying to cover up her derisive laughter.

“WASN’T IT?!” Catra banged the bars of the cell. Her body was shaking, and tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t notice, her anger was all-consuming. She struggled hard against Adora’s attempts to shepherd her out of the room, “You never wanted me, NEVER!”

“Now, now, Catra,” Shadow Weaver drawled, “You need to calm down. People might think you’re crazy.”

The girl breathed deeply, trying in vain to dampen the rage the sorceress had sparked inside her. She flung herself at the cell, being caught again by Adora, “I’M NOT CRAZY! You made me this way, Shadow Weaver. Everything that is wrong with me is YOUR FAULT! Every time you yelled at me, or put me down, or messed with my head, or physically hurt me RUINED my life! You broke me like you break everyone. And so help me, I want to break _you_ right now. Every single bone in your body. I am going to do what I should have done years ago. Adora, open the door...”

“I’m not going to-“

“Open. The Door,” Catra hissed, her penetrating stare locked onto Shadow Weaver’s face. She had lost hold of everything else – finding out what happened to Glimmer, reconnecting with Adora, her own recovery – and all her brain could focus on was how she wanted to dive into the cell, claws out and only leave when the woman was a bloody mess lying on the floor.

“No!” Adora stood her ground, “Don’t give her the satisfaction, Catra. Just – just go upstairs and calm yourself.”

Catra’s fury eased just enough to realise that Adora was right. She turned around, knocking into the other girl as she left the room. She kept walking out of the basement and up the stairs, finding a quiet corner where she was far enough away from Shadow Weaver to be able to reset and focus on managing her breathing. With her self-control finally starting to return, she leant against the wall and slid down to the floor, arms around herself as she burst into tears. She was overcome with regret for her outburst, and it made her think about how disappointed Catarrah would be in her for not handling her emotions well.

Burying her head in her hands, Catra began to feel as though she should never have left for Bright Moon. When she lived in the hospital back in the Crimson Waste, she never had to deal with Adora ordering her around, or Shadow Weaver’s presence evoking memories of the horrible childhood the woman put her through. But facing all this was too difficult. Every time Catra felt like she had made progress, something would drag her right back into her old ways.

“Hey, there you are,” Adora appeared from along the hallway. Catra quickly wiped her face, not wanting to show that she had been crying. It didn’t work, “What’s wrong?”

Catra looked up at her and let out a small laugh, “Where to start? I think we probably need to talk, don’t we?”

“Mhm,” Adora nodded, rapidly thinking of where to start the conversation, “What – what happened to you Catra? You vanished. We thought you were… well, dead.”

“I wanted to be,” she responded as Adora twisted around to sit next to her on the floor, “After the portal thing, I just walked out of the Fright Zone. I kept walking and walking until I got to the Crimson Waste. Hordak sent me there to die before, so I felt like I should give him his wish. I was this close to doing it, but I was exhausted, and I passed out.”

“Catra…” Adora clasped her hands around the girl’s left hand. It surprised Catra how comforting that felt. She saw Adora’s hands moving over and was prepared to pull away, but the sensation of connection was calming to her.

“Spoiler – I didn’t die.”

The two girls started to giggle through their sniffling. It stopped a few moments later, as rapidly as it began.

“I’m glad,” Adora said quietly.

“Someone saved me,” continued Catra, “She really helped me, even when I couldn’t accept it. I spent months learning how to be able to deal with life, and stuff like that. She helped me want to live again.”

“That sounds really nice.”

“It was a mental hospital, Adora,” Catra replied flatly, giving her a scathing look.

“Oh…That’s, um…”

“Yeah. Anyway, I thought I was better, so I came back here to sort things out with you. But look what happened. I’m clearly not ready.”

Adora gave her hand a squeeze, “No, that’s on Shadow Weaver. She gets under our skin; she always has done to us. Ever since we were young, she constantly played her mind games and it messed us both up. I’m not saying that I suffered the same way you did, but… I guess I’m sorry.”

Catra’s gaze caught the eyes of the blonde girl, and she could see streaks of tears meandering their way down her face, “I’m sorry too, Adora. I did some awful stuff, and I know I put you in a horrible position sometimes. I just didn’t want to have to deal with you leaving.”

“It’s not your fault. I… I always had to protect you from Shadow Weaver, and somewhere along the line I lost sight of the fact that you are your own person,” Adora sniffed, maintaining their eye contact, “I just kept on telling you what to do because I felt like if I didn’t, you’d get hurt, because that’s what always happened when we were kids. I didn’t want that to happen to you ever, but I guess I ended up causing more pain because of it.”

“I understand why you did,” Catra nodded, “But I don’t think I can deal with it right now. I came back to put the past to bed and even in the few days I’ve been here, I haven’t felt once like I can. My mind interprets almost everything you do as ordering me around, or as a reminder that you abandoned me for Glimmer and the others and it’s just not fair on you.”

“You know I never meant to abandon you. I just couldn’t stay with the Horde once I saw what they did and I’m not going to apologise for leaving. Catra, I know I’ve done wrong by you sometimes, like I end up telling you what to do without realising I’m being like that, but I know that leaving the Horde and coming to Bright Moon was the right decision. I’m still trying to deal with the past too – I find it very difficult to let go of trying to control everything, and it pains me to know that I’m still having that effect on you. But now you’re here, we can face our demons together, right?”

“I don’t think I can, Adora,” she fought the urge to cry, and her voice wobbled, “Being around you hurts. It’s not your fault, and I wish it didn’t, but it aches deep within me whenever I see you. I’m just not there yet. I thought I was and I’m absolutely terrified that I never will be, but… the pain inside isn’t going away by being here with you. I thought it would – I _hoped _it would, but…”

She shook her head as she gave in and began sobbing. Adora gently rested the girl’s head on her shoulder, putting her arms around Catra and holding her tight. She wanted to say so many things – tell her she’d try to change, that everything would be fine now they were together, that they should stay with each other – but she couldn’t find words that seemed powerful enough to break through, so she said nothing, wishing that the hug could transfer her thoughts.

The two of them stayed in the silent embrace for several minutes. Adora ran a hand through Catra’s hair and stroked her back, the same way she used to calm her down back in the Horde, while the girl’s tears soaked through the shoulder of her jacket. Adora had tears of her own, but somehow her pain seemed insignificant compared to her friend’s and she wanted to be strong enough to provide whatever small sanctuary she could. It was like the small corner of the Bright Moon hallway became an isolated bubble of emotion, as though the two of them were the only thing in existence. Catra cried out two decades of hurt and, as her weeping became quieter and slower, she began to feel a tiny bit better. She raised her head up to look Adora in the eyes.

“This did help, kinda,” she said, her cheeks glistening, “But I think I need to work out what I’m going to do now.”

Adora let go of her, and helped the girl to her feet, wiping a lone tear from Catra’s face, “Come on, we’ll go up to my room and sort you out.”

“Wow…at least buy me a drink first,” she tried to deflect her sorrow with some humour. It found the mark, making Adora chuckle.

“You know what I mean, silly,” she took the girl by the hand and led her to her room. Inside, Adora helped Catra to freshen up, cleaning the dry tears from her face and helping her cool down from the heat of emotion. They began to talk again as they sat next to each other, trying to find their way to forgiveness and peace, though it became even clearer that both of them still had their own issues to confront.

Even so, with the hours that passed, there were small sparks that reminded them of better times. They caught each other up on the things that had happened in their lives, the things they loved and hated, things they had discovered about themselves. The atmosphere was still a relatively gloomy one, with Catra’s revelations and Adora’s worry about Glimmer and her family hanging over them, but they found small pieces of happiness amongst the sadness. At times, it felt as though nothing was wrong, then at others, Catra felt trapped by the other girl’s mere presence. But their time together helped them to see what could one day be.

The evening wore on, and it became time for Catra to return to her guest room. She hugged Adora goodbye and headed towards the door, but it slammed open before she reached it. A blur ran into the room, crashing into Adora and burying itself into her shoulder.

“Glimmer?” she had no idea what to do other than put an arm around the girl, “What happened?”


	12. Those Who Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer, Angella and Castaspella find themselves in a very unusual place. But who else is there with them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot lighter than the last few chapters - I think we've earned a break from wall-to-wall angst and drama!

Glimmer focused hard, channelling her magic into the spell. It was tiring, but worth it to see her father again. Any moment now, the spinning disc in front of her would open up into a small portal and she would be able to touch him. It was everything she wanted – everything she _needed. _The hand that wasn’t connected to her mother began to feel unusually hot. She knew that Angella wanted her to stop if anything felt wrong, but it probably wasn’t anything too bad. But the heat rapidly spread up her body, and as she looked down, she could see her arm glowing brightly. This definitely wasn’t right.

“Mum, I-“

The sounds of the others faded and everything went white. Glimmer looked around herself, but all she could see was a bright white light which served only to spark fear that something awful had happened. Where was her mum? Adora? Aunt Casta? She wasn’t even sure if she was still stood on the ground or falling or lying down; it felt as if all her senses had abandoned her.

“Glimmer!” she heard a faint voice that seemed to be coming from every direction at once. It called her name a few more times, growing in volume until the Princess could identify the speaker.

“Mum! Where are you?”

“Glimmer!”

She felt a touch on her leg and immediately startled, turning around to see her mother standing above her while she was laid on the floor. Just seeing her was enough to help Glimmer relax a little – she still had no idea what had occurred, but at least she had her mum with her to help get them back.

“What happened? Where’s Aunt Casta?” the quick succession of panicked questions reflected what was happening in the Princess’ mind.

“She’s with me,” Angella reassured her, offering a hand to help her up, “Come on.”

Glimmer got to her feet, acclimatising herself to the strange, boundless place they were in. Everything seemed to be made of dazzling white light which made it impossible to distinguish the floor or the walls from each other – if they were even there at all. It was all very disorienting, there was nothing she could fix her eyes on as a reference to anything else. Her mother led her what seemed like a short distance, but could have been much longer, until Castaspella’s form emerged from the brightness.

“Oh good, you’re OK,” her aunt smiled, “This place is weird, huh?”

Glimmer stared straight ahead, consumed by worry, “I’m sorry. It was fine one moment, then my hand got hot and everything went white and then we’re here and I don’t know what this is and-“

“Calm down, Glimmer!” Angella shouted, hoping the loud noise would shock her daughter out of her spiral, “We don’t know what happened, but we must find a way to reverse it. Let’s get moving and do _not _split up.”

The Queen was very aware that she had no idea where to go, but she wanted to give the others some confidence that they would get back to Bright Moon. She began walking purposefully forward, trailed by Castaspella and Glimmer.

“I don’t know what happened,” Angella sighed, “Shadow Weaver must have lied to us.”

“She does that,” said a deep voice behind them. The three women jumped, Glimmer screaming with fright and jumping in front of her mother to use her as a shield. They spun around to look at the speaker, “She told me I’d never see you again.”

Angella looked at the raggedly clothed man behind them. His dark hair was long and matted, and a large, messy beard covered the bottom half of his face, but as she looked into his eyes, his identity was unmistakable. The shock sent her into silence, and she threw her arms around the man, tears of joyful relief forming in her eyes.

“Micah!”

“Angie! I knew you would find me one day. And Casta as well, it’s wonderful to see you after so long,” he turned to Glimmer, “And you’ll have to forgive me miss, I am very sorry to have scared you. I’m afraid I don’t know your name, though.”

The Princess peered out from behind her mum, still a little anxious from his sudden appearance, and spoke timidly, “Hi Dad.”

Micah’s eyes widened as he stared back at her, “No… Glimmy? Look at you! I’m… wow!”

He glanced open-mouthed at Angella, who confirmed with a nod that she was indeed his daughter. Glimmer was four when he was trapped here, and now she was this wonderful young woman in front of him. Micah offered a hand, still lost in amazement, looking the girl up and down with pride.

“It’s Glimmer, Dad. No-one calls me Glimmy anymore.”

“But it was such a cute nickname!” Micah laughed momentarily, “But no, _Glimmer _is your name.”

“This is lovely,” Castaspella broke through the emotional reunion, “But we should do this when we get back. Micah, do you have any idea how we can all return?”

The King absent-mindedly ran a finger through his beard, “Well how did you all get here?”

“We had a spell to create a portal like the one Shadow Weaver sent you through, but…somehow we ended up here,” his sister explained, not sure that anything she said would be of any help.

“I think it was my fault,” Glimmer looked at her feet, “I must have teleported everyone through.”

“You did that? That’s amazing!” Micah gasped. The others glared at him, “I mean… I’m glad you have learnt more about your powers. But we just need to do the same so you can teleport us back.”

Glimmer struggled to believe it would be that easy. Besides, she needed to rest first – the spell had tired her out, and there was no way she had recovered enough to get back. For all the strides she had made with her powers recently, having to rest and recharge still got to her. She hated it, and asking the people around her to take a break never stopped feeling embarrassing. But the older adults understood and resolved to let her have some time. Glimmer sat down on the floor, and the others followed suit.

“So…” Micah sat himself next to Glimmer and gently nudged her shoulder, “How’s life? What’s it like being a Princess? Bright Moon must have changed a bit since I’ve been gone and look at you… you must have all the boys queuing up.”

“Daaaad...” she said, rolling her eyes.

Micah raised his hands in mock defeat, “Or girls, you know that’s not a problem.”

Glimmer shook her head, embarrassed, “Seriously, Dad, stop! I have my two best friends, Adora and Bow. They mean everything to me, and we always fight alongside each other.”

“Oh, the war is still going on,” the King looked dejected, sad that his daughter had to be caught up in the same battles that he was.

“Yeah… but things are looking up. I reformed the Princess Alliance and Adora i-“

“You reformed the Princess Alliance? That’s incredible, Glimmer. No, it’s beyond incredible, you have made a miracle happen!”

The girl blushed, “I had help from my friends. Adora can transform into an 8-foot lady with great hair and a sword. You’d be surprised how many Princesses something like that can attract.”

The two of them shared a laugh while Angella explained about She-Ra. Micah had thought her a mere myth, but his daughter being best friends with a legendary warrior? That was spectacular! Although he still had his reservations about She-Ra being a Horde soldier, he could see how important she was to Glimmer by the way she lit up when talking about the girl.

“I bet you’ve kicked some Horde butt then, huh?” he couldn’t wait to find out more about what his amazing daughter had been up to in the past fifteen or so years.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Glimmer faltered a little, remembering the worst of the things that had happened, “Though it’s not always been easy. I was captured by Shadow Weaver once and I nearly didn’t make it out.”

The mere sound of her name made Micah shudder as the memories – good and bad – of the woman he once knew as Light Spinner came to him. More than anything, he felt angry at her for having banished him here and missing out on his daughter growing up. When the four of them got out of the dimension, he would have rather a lot to say to her.

“I’m sorry, Glimmer,” Micah gently placed a hand on her shoulder, “She has done horrible things to our family. But we’re going to pull through and be back together before long, I promise.”

“Shadow Weaver forcibly took hold of Glimmer’s magic a few days ago,” Angella spoke solemnly, explaining what Glimmer could not find the words for, “She’s still a bit fragile from it.”

Her husband balled his hand into a fist, “How dare she attack my daughter! I hope she gets what’s coming to her. No. No, I’m not going to derail our first conversation in years by talking about _her_. Let’s change the subject. Glimmer, you said that you’ve improved your own powers?”

“Y-yeah,” she stuttered a reply, “I can teleport a fair distance, even with other people, and I’m building up my stamina, so I don’t have to rest quite so often.”

Micah grinned, “That’s incredible! You’ve really come on since I last saw you. Do you remember the incident when you were eating your dinner? You must have been about three, I think.”

“Yes, Dad, we know what happened,” Glimmer tried to shut him down so they would move on to a different subject.

“I don’t!” Castaspella shuffled herself closer to hear the story, wearing a mischievous grin.

“She was eating her dinner one night…”

“Dad! You’re going to embarrass me!”

“It’s only your Aunt Casta. She used to change your nappies, so I’m fairly sure she’s seen worse.”

“Oh my God, Dad…” the Princess turned red and faced herself away from everyone.

“So anyway,” Micah continued, “She was eating her dinner, and we could see her making this cute little face and wiggling her nose like she was about to sneeze. Angella quickly whipped the food away so she wouldn’t make a mess, then Glimmer did the most adorable sneeze. But when she did, she teleported herself across the room. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Castaspella laughed, “Aw, that’s really sweet.”

“She cried for half an hour because she didn’t have her food anymore,” Micah ruffled his daughter’s hair, “But I’m sure she wouldn’t do that now.”

Glimmer scowled, “Seriously Dad, I’m starting to see the attraction of being alone in an alternate dimension for several years.”

“I’m sorry, Glim. I truly am proud of who you’ve become, I hope you know that.”

The Princess nodded slightly, cheeks still red from embarrassment. Still, she couldn’t really blame him, he’d not seen anything of her life beyond stories like that. When they were back in Bright Moon, she’d be able to introduce him to Bow and Adora or go into battle with him – things that would show her father who she really was, not just an adult version of the toddler he remembered.

A silence enveloped them for a time as they reflected on the implications of reuniting; the things they would be able to do together now, how others would react to the King returning. After a short while, the peace was broken by Angella, who had been mulling over how to say what had been at the forefront of her mind since they met. She took hold of Micah’s hand in her own, looking deep into his eyes, “I’m sorry.”

“Angie, this wasn’t your fault.”

“Micah, I… I was the one who sent you out. It’s been my biggest regret.”

“Please,” he placed his other hand around hers, “I went on that mission because it was the right thing to do. I know it ended badly, but not once in all the time I have been here have I resented you for it. I had a free choice, and I chose to fight.”

Angella smiled at him, relieved that he didn’t blame her, but also sympathetic that he had spent all this time effectively blaming himself.

“I-“ she was cut off by a loud rumbling, “What was that?”

Micah’s eyes darted around, trying to trace the source of the noise, “Um, Glimmer, how recovered are you?”

“I’m getting there,” the Princess looked up, “Why?”

“Because we need to go now. This dimension can’t handle four people being inside. It’s starting to break down.”

There was another loud noise behind them, causing a large area of the dimension to turn from brilliant white light to a void-like darkness. The rumbling got louder, and the floor began to shake underneath them.

“Let’s try,” Glimmer stood up and took hold of her mother and Castaspella’s arms. Micah grabbed Angella’s other arm while Castaspella began to draw the runes.

“Are we ready, ladies?”


	13. Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the finale of the series, Glimmer has to help get her family home from the rapidly-collapsing dimension.

The runes in front of them began to glow, just as they had the first time, and then rotate slowly. Glimmer concentrated hard as the spinning got faster and created a disc of light in front of them. She could feel her parents’ power uniting with hers, and it made her feel stronger, as though she could find reserves of magic that she had never been able to before. The disc grew in size, and she could feel the tips of her fingers heating up. This was it – her dad was finally coming home.

Glimmer focused on the heat in her fingers, ready for it to envelope the group, but rapidly became panicked when it didn’t spread. She tried forcing more power towards her arm, but all it served to do was to tire her out more quickly, and she soon found herself needing to stop. Letting go of her mother, she knelt down to try and catch her breath. The others stopped casting and stood around her.

“Glimmer? What’s wrong?” Angella crouched behind her, surrounding the girl with her arms.

“I… I don’t know,” the Princess responded breathlessly, “I tried my best, but it just didn’t happen.”

Castaspella gave her a sympathetic smile, “You’re not getting the same amount of power from the runestone as you did before. You’ll have to try and pace yourself – keep a constant level of magic flowing the whole time, rather than going all out right away.”

Glimmer nodded to indicate that she understood and rose to her feet again. The entire dimension was now shaking violently around them, the darkness encroaching ever closer to the spot where they stood, creating a sense of urgency that they all felt. If they didn’t leave soon, the place would collapse entirely – at best trapping them, and at worst killing them all.

“We need to try again, _now_!” Micah commanded, grabbing hold of Glimmer and Angella. Again, the sorceress drew the runes, having to concentrate hard to avoid making an error because of the vibrations. The finished spell was a little messy, and she shot her brother a questioning look. He gave her a thumbs-up, confirming that it was good enough. Glimmer began focusing on her magic, trying to ensure that she took things steady so that they would succeed this time. She stared at her arm, feeling the heat begin to warm her fingers. Breathing deeply to stay calm, the Princess concentrated on the sensation, and the warmth began to spread up her forearm. Her hand began to glow as it had done when they came here, and Glimmer tried her hardest to keep an even flow of her power. Yet again, however, it came tantalisingly close, but she still could not bring the light any further around herself, let alone the others, before she was unable to give any more. The Princess let go once again to stop the spell and avoid completely wearing herself out.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do it,” she wailed with resignation, having to talk loudly to be heard over the sounds of the dimension falling apart. Black veins began cracking through the light all around them, like a pane of glass breaking in slow motion, each line echoing a deafening boom throughout their surroundings.

Micah took hold of both the Princess’ hands and fixed his gaze on her, drawing her attention away from her worries, “Glimmer, you _can _do this. We’re going to help you, and you’re going to get us all back home safe and sound. Now I’m really sorry, Glim, but we don’t have any time left to let you rest, so we have to go again now. I love you, I believe in you and I know you can do anything you put your mind to, so you can do this, okay?”

His daughter nodded, “Okay.”

Though none of them dared say it, they knew this was their last chance. If this failed, there would be no more time. Glimmer linked hands with her mother and aunt, while Micah gripped Angella’s arm, ready to try again. The runes were drawn, and once more began to spin into a disc of light. The Princess closed her eyes, trying to envisage her magic like a small stream, flowing gently but surely. She was already tired out, and knew it was going to hurt, but if she wanted to bring her father back home, any sensation of pain would have to be put to one side.

Micah held his wife’s arm tightly, again contributing his own abilities to help the spell succeed. He could feel Angella and their daughter both focusing everything they had on the spell. He watched as Glimmer’s arm began to glow. The radiance darted up and down his daughter’s arm but struggled to get any further. Why were they having so many problems getting this spell to work? There was a disrupted connection to the runestone, of course, but they had his power as well this time. What was different?

The King gasped quietly, losing concentration as he realised why the spell was failing. ‘I’m different,’ he thought to himself. The awareness of exactly how he could get them back to Bright Moon struck him, and he began forcing all his magical ability through his hands into Angella. It was almost painful, having to give up every bit of energy to help the spell succeed, but it was something he had to do. He kept his grip on his wife, even though the effort was beginning to make his entire body shake, and he could see the glow spreading haphazardly around his daughter’s body, flickering across a couple of times to Castaspella. Both him and Glimmer cried out, the exertion crossing over into pain, only the determination to get back home driving them to continue. Micah’s head began to feel dizzy, but seeing the light begin to steady itself and surround them told him he was doing the right thing.

Now was the time. The one thing he could do that he knew would get them home. He leaned in towards Angella and whispered into her ear, “I love you. Look after each other.”

The Queen turned her head towards him, watching him step back. Her arm felt cold and bare, and it took a moment for her to realise her husband no longer had hold of it, “Micah, n-“

Before she could finish, a brilliant light flashed around the three women while an almighty crack emanated from the dimension around them, and an instant later, they were stood back in the Moonstone chamber.

“I did it!” Glimmer laughed deliriously as she fell to her knees, exhausted, “We’re back! Oh, wow, I did it! I… where’s Dad?”

She dropped into silence. Angella put her hand on the Princess’ shoulder, trying not to cry, “He didn’t come with us.”

“No…” the Princess, too, felt her eyes welling up, “Did I do something wrong?”

Her mother shook her head, “No, darling. We didn’t have enough magic to teleport four people. He let go.”

“Is he…?”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry,” Angella buried her head in her hands and wept. The Princess had rarely seen her mother crying, let alone this despairingly, and witnessing it was an uneasy feeling. Glimmer wasn’t sure why, but she started running. Ignoring Angella and Castaspella’s shouts, she kept moving, only realising where her legs were taking her when she got there. She burst through the door of Adora’s room and straight into the girl herself, where she started crying into her shoulder.

“Glimmer? What happened?”

“I met my Dad,” her voice was muffled but Adora could just about make out the girl's words, “But he didn’t come back. I wasn’t powerful enough to bring him home.”

“I’m sorry, Glimmer,” Adora held her tightly, not knowing quite what to say. She tried to empathise but had no idea what Glimmer was feeling,

Catra stepped back towards them, “Thanks for this afternoon, Adora. I’ll-“

Adora looked up at her and cut her off, “Hey, um, Catra. Could you leave us be for now? I’ll come find you in the morning. Promise.”

Adora picking Glimmer over her? _Again? _All she wanted to do was help or provide some comfort but no – any time Glimmer needed Adora, everyone else could get lost, because whatever Glimmer wants, Glimmer gets, clearly. She huffed and rolled her eyes as she left through the door. For all their conversation today, Adora hadn’t really changed, had she? She was always going to shut her out when it wasn’t convenient for her. Once alone in the hall, Catra pressed her hand across her eyes, breathing through her teeth in an attempt to control the rage she felt brewing up inside. She felt the anger but was determined not to let it take her over, and a few moments later it subsided a little. Though she was still quite irate, she felt confident that it would pass, and she returned to her room with a much clearer idea of what she needed to do now.

* * *

The light outside when Adora woke told her it was mid-morning. She looked over at the girl sleeping beside her. They’d been sat on the bed talking about her father for hours the night before, and Glimmer had eventually cried herself to sleep. Adora didn’t have the heart to wake her, nor did she feel it right to send the Princess back to her own room to sleep on her own, so she let the girl stay exactly where she was. Adora noted to herself how peaceful her friend looked, sleeping as though there was nothing wrong. She wanted the Princess to stay in that peaceful slumber as long as possible, knowing how heart-breaking the reality would be when she awoke.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, lightly stroking Glimmer’s arm, “You’ve still got me.”

Being careful not to disturb the sleeping girl, she extracted herself from the bed and changed out of her bedclothes. She’d promised Catra she would see her in the morning and wasn’t going to go back on her word. Adora quietly opened her door and shut it behind her, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to disturb Glimmer. She headed down the corridor and knocked on the door to the guest room. There was no response.

“Catra?”

Again, there was no answer, not even the sound of movement from inside, so Adora cautiously opened the door. The room seemed to be empty, although the bed had been roughly made, indicating that it had been slept in. As she looked over it, she noticed a small envelope on top of it, and walking over to pick it up, she could see that it had her name on the front. With her heart pounding, the girl opened it and read the letter inside.

_Adora,_

_I know I said most of this yesterday, but I want to be sure that you understand. Coming back and seeing you and your friends has hit me harder than I expected it to. I thought I could do this, but I can’t, and I don’t see any other option for me. It’s never going to be how it was, is it?_

_I wanted us to be as close as we used to be, but we’re like strangers to each other now, and I don’t think we’re capable of becoming friends as we are currently. Maybe that’s more my problem than yours but trying to force it to happen is only going to hurt both of us. One day, I hope more than anything that we can be together like we were, but we both need to grow more for that to happen. I’m going to try. I hope you can too. _

_Take care of yourself and think of me often. I know I’ll be thinking of you._

_Goodbye for now,_

_Catra x_

Adora curled up on the bed and shut her eyes, still clutching the letter. If only she had listened to Catra more, if only she had paid more attention to the way she acted around the girl. If only… Adora got lost in a spiral of ‘what ifs’ that filled her with regret. She laid there on top of the bed, her mind spinning with a carousel of thoughts for several minutes before a touch on her arm made her jump.

“Catra?” she looked up expectantly and was almost disappointed to see Glimmer stood over her.

“Sorry, just me. But I can try if you like?” the Princess forced her voice into a low drawl, “Heyyyy Adora.”

The blonde girl shook her head, stifling laughter, “That sounds nothing like her! But… thanks Glimmer, I’m glad you’re here.”

The two girls embraced, their sympathetic smiles evidence of the bittersweet mix of emotions inside them, “Of course. I’ve got you.”

* * *

**Epilogue - Scars:**

_Life seems unfair sometimes. Horrible things happen to us, and those things stay with us like scars._

Shadow Weaver sat on the floor of her cell. She was powerless and alone, only her thoughts for company. Her failures, her regrets… Catra and Adora, the children she had raised, now hated her. She had lost them forever through her actions. The power she had, both in the Horde and with the Rebellion, now a distant memory because of her greed. Shadow Weaver put her hand up to her face, surprised, as a solitary tear fell from her eye.

_ But every scar, physical or emotional, is a sign that you went through something awful and survived._

Glimmer perched on the edge of her bed, next to Bow. He and Adora had been there for her after she was attacked by Shadow Weaver, helping her realise there was still good to be found in the world. She looked down at her outstretched arm, the bruises fading but the memories still strong, as Bow put his arm around her shoulder and brought her in to a hug that reminded her: she was not alone.

_Sometimes we look to others to help us, but they have their own scars to manage…_

Adora jabbed at the punchbag in her room. That was the way she had been taught to deal with emotion for her entire childhood – just hit things. Catra’s return had been brief, but it had reminded her the depth of her feelings for the girl. Just like her, Adora wanted things to be how they were, and the hope that they could be in the future provided her with the determination to become the person Catra deserved when they met once again. She picked up Catra’s leaving note, which she kept in the drawer next to her bed and smiled as she thought of her.

_…and it hurts to know you have to be apart. _

Angella could still feel Micah’s touch on her arm. It was warm and loving and it made her feel safe. But reality came back to her, tears forming in her eyes as she once again faced knowing he was gone for good. Their reunion had been short-lived, but it meant the world to her to be able to say the things she thought she never could. And somewhere, somehow, she felt as though he was still watching over her. She looked upwards and mouthed the words ‘I love you’.

_But I think no matter how far away they are, knowing that they love us gives us a reason to keep going, even if we can’t always see that love. _

Micah lay on the small remaining area of floor in the shattered dimension. He had spent years wondering what became of Angella, Casta and Glimmer, and when they appeared, it was better than he could ever imagine. He was so proud of his daughter – he couldn’t even put it into words how much – a young woman who was stronger than both he and Angella could ever hope to be. His heart yearned to see them again, but he feared that this time it really was not possible. Instead, he prayed to whatever entities would listen that his family would know how loved they were.

_So remember you are loved and let that love start to heal your scars. Keep walking forward even when it hurts, and tell yourself, “There’s always hope for tomorrow.”_

“There’s always hope for tomorrow,” Catra repeated back as she sat back in the chair, “I like that.”

“I know it’s a bumpy road, Catra, and sometimes it feels like you’re going backwards, but as long as you keep going, things will get better.”

The girl smiled, “I really hope so.”

Catarrah smiled warmly at her new assistant, “They will. You know, I’m glad you came back. We’re going to help so many people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are! Thank you so much for reading this. It started out as a simple "what if S3 ended differently" and turned into a much more personal tale about recovery and healing - it's been emotional, but also quite cathartic. I know the ending is somewhat sad, but there's a real hint of positivity in there about keeping going even when things are hard.
> 
> Plus, I have left plenty of scope to come back to this, and I'm sure I will one day. If you've any ideas of what should happen in a sequel (or any ideas for She-Ra stuff outside of this alternative story you'd like to see, do let me know).
> 
> Thanks again!  
-Alice


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